The Journal of the
Antique Collectors' Club
| ANTIQUE COLLECTING The Journal of the Antique Collectors' Club | |
| Extract from the November 2007 Magazine | |
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PERSIAN CARPETS by Ian Bennett |
| Even in an age when collecting art has become more widespread through all levels of society than at any other time in history, there can be no doubt that interest in Oriental rugs, particularly in the West, remains a minority taste. Western collectors have always seemed to have had some difficulty in accepting the idea that objects made to cover floors can also aspire to the condition of great art. Not surprisingly, this blindness has never manifested itself in those areas of the world most associated with the making of carpets - Iran, the Caucasus, Turkey, India, China, Spain and the small kingdoms and Emirates of Central Asia.
In the West, a similar appreciation of the singular beauty resulting from fine pile weaving has usually been confined to the most rarefied strata of society, although this has had some peculiar results. The evidence provided by Western paintings from the pre-Renaissance until the end of the 19th century is unequivocal. The most powerful and wealthiest institutions of Western society - the rulers of both church and state - were eager and appreciative patrons of Oriental rug weaving. European painting supplies a fascinating record of the presence of Turkish and Persian rugs in the richest cathedrals and grandest palaces of the leading ecclesiastical and lay authorities. Indeed, in an area of art hopelessly lacking in historical documentation, the study of Western painting ironically constitutes the fullest and most consistent record of what particular types of Oriental carpet were being woven when. Paintings also afford valuable evidence of which types were the most highly regarded by Western artists and, to a lesser extent, a guide to the rise and fall in popularity of design types known to us from actual surviving examples. Combined with the evidence that has been, and remains to be, uncovered from European wills, inventories and other such documents, which often describe rugs in enough detail for us to be able to recognise specific types, there can be little doubt that up until the present time, Western sources have been crucial in constructing a chronology and provenance for Oriental rug weaving, as well as placing it in both a physical and an economic context. | |
A very beautiful late 19th century rug with the moharramat design, which in recent years seems to have become increasingly popular with collectors. The palette of this finely woven rug is very pleasing and this, combined with the well-drawn field motifs, makes it an exceptionally elegant rug. note the original bunched fringe finish at the lower end. wool pile on a wool foundation, 7ft. 6½in. x 5ft. 10 7/8in.