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Catalog Description

Sale Title ORIENTAL RUGS AND CARPETS


Location London, King Street Sale Date Apr 06, 2006
Lot Number 54 Sale Number 7219
Creator SIGNED BY SADEQ, PROBABLY ISFAHAN, CENTRAL PERSIA, DATED AH 1130/1717-18 AD

Lot Title A SAFAVID SILK CARPET FRAGMENT

Estimate 10,000 - 15,000 British pounds
Special Notice No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.
Lot Description A SAFAVID SILK CARPET FRAGMENT
SIGNED BY SADEQ, PROBABLY ISFAHAN, CENTRAL PERSIA, DATED AH 1130/1717-18 AD
Extensive inscription above including a repeat of the signature and date, evenly worn, damages in ivory panel
4ft. x 12ft.8in. (122cm. x 387cm.)

Lot Notes The upper border has a very full inscription. Two long cartouches give the name of the patron. All that can be read is "Dastur (or sarkar) Amir Husayn b. Amir". Two small further inscriptions also however give the year of manufacture, AH 1130/1717-18 AD, and the name of the weaver, given simply as Sadeq

This fragment is a very rare survival from this late Safavid period. It is hugely important in that it is signed and dated, in a period when no silk carpet of this size is known, let alone one including the documentary information found here. From the proportions of the spandrels it is certain that this carpet originally had a medallion, although its precise form is a matter for conjecture. The field design, with its affinities to herati pattern and its pale palette, is also reminiscent of a pale coloured carpet depicted under the feet of the minister of Shah Sultan Husayn (r.1694-1722), although not nearly so boldly drawn (Francesca von Habsburg et at., The St. Petersburg Muraqqa', Lugano and Milan, 1996, pl.190).

Knotted in silk pile, on thick five-ply cotton warps, it has three weft shoots between each row of knots. The main one separates the warps into two levels and is made of 5-strand unplied cotton. The undulating secondary wefts are of ivory and pale rose silk. This would normally be indicative of a Kirman origin. Another unusual technical feature in a silk carpet is the extensive use of jufti knotting. On the right hand side of the carpet this is only used occasionally, and appears to have some link with the design. The left-hand side is however strewn with it, justifying comments about this knotting being the product of laziness! Its extensive employment here might lead to the suggestion of a Khorassani origin, but there is no tradition or reporting of Khorasani silk carpet weaving during the Safavid period. The influence of Kirman, as noted above, is also seen in the structure, but the design owes nothing at all to "vase carpet" design. It is most probable, due to the close similarities in colouring and design, and the comparable structure, despite its inversion of the normal wefting, that it is a product of the capital, Isfahan. Whatever its origin, the size and materials of the present carpet demonstrate that, right at the end of the Safavid period, carpets were still being made on a very grand scale. This would certainly be consistent with the evidence from other spheres of artistic interest. The Madar-i Shah complex, one of the largest and most impressive architectural projects in the city of Isfahan, built by Shah Sultan Husayn to honour his mother, was completed in 1714, four years before the carpet. Its extensive tilework follows a very similar colour scheme to that of the carpet


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