Polonaise Carpet, first half 17th century

Not on View

Medium

silk pile and metal brocade on cotton warp and cotton and silk weft

Dimensions

overall (height by width at top): 405 x 178 cm (159 7/16 x 70 1/16 in.)
overall (height by width at bottom): 405 x 178 cm (159 7/16 x 70 1/16 in.)

Credit Line

Widener Collection

Accession Number

1942.9.473

Artists / Makers

Isfahan 17th Century (artist)

Image Use

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Provenance

Peter A. B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, by 1910; inheritance from Estate of Peter A. B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; gift 1942 to NGA.

Associated Names

Widener, Joseph E.
Widener, Peter Arrell Brown

Exhibition History

1910: Loan Exhibition of Early Oriental Rugs, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1910-1911, 48, no. 39, repro. (cat. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner).

1940: Exhibition of Persian Art, The Iranian Institute, New York, 1940, 63, Gallery 4, no. 10, (Guide by Phyllis Ackerman).

1973: Shah 'Abbas and the Arts of Isfahan, Asia House Gallery, New York; The Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1973-1974, 43 and 69, no. 28, repro. (cat. by Anthony Welch).

Technical Summary

Warp: cotton, Z4S, ivory. Alternate warps depressed on two levels. Weft: x3, first and third shoots relatively straight cotton, 2Z, beige or ecru (semi-bleached), dyed dull light red, with crimson bands. Second shoot sinuous silk, U, light orange to ecru. Metal: silver, S-wound on U ivory silk core; gilded silver on buff. Brocaded over 3 under 1 on the upper warps. Pile: silk, U, asymmetrical knotting open at the left. Hor. 15, Vert. 11½. Approximately 175 knots to the square inch. Top finish: 1/8 inch of yellow U silk kilim. Bottom finish: 1/4 inch of light yellow U silk kilim. Sides: two cables, (Z4S) 3Z, both within the silk weft but beyond the cotton. An interwoven selvage of peach silk on the two cables, with crimson bands. Colors: ivory (much degraded), various shades of brown, peach, crimson, salmon pink, orange, light yellow, various shades of green and blue, and dull violet. The metal has substantially eroded, and there is extensive surface wear, especially at the lower end.

Bibliography

1911: Ruge, Klara. "Die Ausstellung alter orientalischer Teppiche im Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York." Kunst und Kunsthandwerk 14 (1911): 214, fig. 6.

1935: Inventory of the Objects d'Art at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, The Estate of the Late P.A.B. Widener. Philadelphia, 1935: 129.

1938: Pope, Arthur Upham, with Phyllis Ackerman, eds. A Survey of Persian Art from Prehistoric Times to the Present. 9 vols. London and New York, 1938-1939: 3:2394-2395; 4:pl. 1247.

1959: Dilley, Arthur U. Oriental Rugs and Carpets. A Comprehensive Study. New York and London, 1931: pl. 14. Rev. ed. Philadelphia, 1959.

1968: Spuhler, Friedrich-Karl, "Seidene Repräsentationsteppiche der mittleren bis späten Safawidenzeit: Die sog. Polenteppiche." Ph.D. dissertation, Free University of Berlin, 1968: 200-201, no. 104.

1973: Shah 'Abbas and the Arts of Isfahan. Exh. cat. Asia House Gallery, New York; Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1973-1974: 19, 69, no. 28, repro. (cat. by Anthony Welch).

1997: Torchia, Robert Wilson. "Widener's Gift." Hali 92 (May 1997): 88-97, 120, fig. 3.

1998: Bower, Virginia, Josephine Hadley Knapp, Stephen Little, and Robert Wilson Torchia. Decorative Arts, Part II: Far Eastern Ceramics and Paintings; Persian and Indian Rugs and Carpets. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1998: 294-298, color repro.