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On display
Image of Gallery in South Kensington

Fragment

mid 17th century (made)
Place of origin
India (made)
Lahore (made)

Square fragment of a carpet made up of several smaller fragments sewn together. Pashm (goat hair) knotted on cotton warps and silk wefts, about 28 knots to the inch. With a large trellis pattern of cross-shaped compartments outlined by angular and scrolling foliate bands in shades of blue, green and fawn, enclosing white-lily and other flowering plants on a plain red ground.

Woollen pile on cotton warp (2 levels, 42 to the inch) and crimson silk weft (3 shoots per row of knots). Sehna knots, about 440 to the square-inch.

Object details

Categories
Textiles
Floor Coverings
Object type
Fragment
Materials and techniques
Knotted pile wool on cotton and silk warps and wefts
Pashm
Cotton
Silk Thread
Knotting
Brief description
Carpet fragment of pashm (goat hair) pile, knotted on cotton warps and silk wefts, Mughal, possibly Lahore, mid-17th century; Textiles; Floor Coverings
Physical description
Square fragment of a carpet made up of several smaller fragments sewn together. Pashm (goat hair) knotted on cotton warps and silk wefts, about 28 knots to the inch. With a large trellis pattern of cross-shaped compartments outlined by angular and scrolling foliate bands in shades of blue, green and fawn, enclosing white-lily and other flowering plants on a plain red ground.

Woollen pile on cotton warp (2 levels, 42 to the inch) and crimson silk weft (3 shoots per row of knots). Sehna knots, about 440 to the square-inch.
Dimensions
  • Height: 52cm
  • Width: 56cm
  • Height: 20.5in
  • Width: 22in
Style
Mughal
Gallery label
(01/08/2017)
CARPET FRAGMENT
Pashm (goat hair) pile, knotted on cotton warps and silk wefts
Mughal
Mid-17th century
IM.153-1926
Given by Mr V. Behar

The lily on this carpet fragment is characteristic of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan’s reign, when the popularity of naturalistic floral motifs was at its height. The finest imperial-grade carpets for royal courts were woven of pashm, and could number over 800 handtied knots per square centimetre. This fragment has 206 knots per square centimetre.
Credit line
Given by V. Behar, Esq.
Bibliographic references
  • Swallow, Deborah and John Guy eds. Arts of India: 1550-1900. text by Rosemary Crill, John Guy, Veronica Murphy, Susan Stronge and Deborah Swallow. London : V&A Publications, 1990. 240 p., ill. ISBN 1851770224, p.96, no.76
  • Stronge, S. "The Arts of the Sikh Kingdoms", V&A, 1999 pl. 86, p. 79, cat no. 50, p. 215
  • Swallow, D., Stronge, S., Crill, R., Koezuka, T., editor and translator, "The Art of the Indian Courts. Miniature Painting and Decorative Arts", Victoria & Albert Museum and NHK Kinki Media Plan, 1993. p. 60, cat. no. 40
Collection
South & South East Asia Collection
Accession number
IM.153-1926

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Record createdFebruary 4, 2003
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O73818/fragment/
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