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Provenance

Duke of Rutland, Belvoir Castle. (Duveen Brothers, New York and London); sold 18 November 1909 to Peter A. B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; 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.

Exhibition History

1910
Loan Exhibition of Early Oriental Rugs, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1910-1911, no. 50, repro. (cat. by Wilhelm Valentiner).
1947
An Exhibition of Antique Oriental Rugs, The Art Institute of Chicago, 1947, no. 14, repro.
1950
The Art of Greater India, 3000 B.C. - 1800 A.D., Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1950, no. 172, repro., as Animal Rug, Mughal, Imperial manufactory.
1976
The Arts of Islam, Hayward Gallery, London, 1976, no. 99, repro.
1982
The Indian Heritage: Court Life and Arts under Mughal Rule, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1982, no. 196, repro.
1985
Akbar's India: Art from the Mughal City of Victory, The Asia Society, New York; The Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1985-1986, no. 73, repro. (shown only at first two venues, through March 1986).
1989
Romance of the Taj Mahal, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond; The Asia Society, New York, 1989-1991, no. 196, repro. (shown only at first three venues, through November 1990).
1997
Flowers Underfoot: Indian Carpets of the Mughal Era, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1997-1998, no. 10, fig. 48, as Lahore 17th Century.
2015
Pearls on a String: Artists, Patrons, and Poets at the Great Islamic Courts, Toledo Museum of Art; Museum of Islamic Art, Doha; Walters Art Museum, Baltimore; Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, 2015-2016, unnumbered catalogue, repro. (shown only in Baltimore and San Francisco).

Technical Summary

Warp: cotton, Z6S with some Z8S, ivory. Alternate warps moderately depressed. Weft: cotton, 2Z and 3Z, dyed light rusty red, x 3. Several short diagonal lines of weft return. Pile: wool, variably 2Z, 3Z and some 4Z. Asymmetrical knotting open at the left. Hor. 14,15. Vert. 19,17. Approximately 260 knots to the square inch. The ends and sides are cut and replaced with new finishes. Colors: ivory, various shades of brown, ecru, wine red, dark pink, abrashed orange, pale yellow, pale green, various shades of abrashed blue, and dark violet. Red and ivory are blended within the knot in limited areas. The pale green and other shades have faded variably. The outer guard band is missing on all four sides. Most of the reds, pinks, and browns in the field have eroded to a lower level, with a good bit of wear showing in the field. Other than repaired slits, especially at the lower end, and insect damage in the border, the rug is in extremely good condition.

Bibliography

1910
Loan Exhibition of Early Oriental Rugs. Exh. cat. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1910-1911: 62, pl. 50, repro. (cat. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner).
1911
Clifford, C. R. Rugs of the Orient. New York, 1911: 102, repro.
1911
Ruge, Klara. "Die Ausstellung alter Orientalischer Teppiche im Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York." Kunst und Kunsthandwerk 14 (1911): 217-218.
1935
Inventory of the Objects d'Art at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, The Estate of the Late P.A.B. Widener. Philadelphia, 1935: 129-130.
1947
An Exhibition of Antique Oriental Rugs. Exh. cat. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1947: no. 14, repro. (cat. by C.F. Kelly and M.O. Gentles).
1950
The Art of Greater India, 3000 B.C.-1800 A.D. Exh. cat. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1950: 112, repro.
1955
Bode, Willhelm von and Ernst Kühnel. Vorderasiatische Knüpfteppiche. 5th ed. Braunschweig, 1955: 154, 155.
1959
Dilley, Arthur U. Oriental Rugs and Carpets. New York, 1931: 140, pl. 35. Rev. ed., Philadelphia, 1959: 140, pl. 36.
1965
Chattopadhyaya, Kamaladevi, et al. Indian Carpets. Bombay, 1965: 13, fig. 2.
1965
Ellis, Charles G. "Indian Carpets in U.S.A. Museums." Marg 18, no. 4 (September 1965): 13, fig. 2.
1967
Schürmann, Ulrich. "Altindische Teppiche," Heimtex 4/67 (April 1967): 134, fig. 7.
1970
Erdmann, Kurt. Seven Hundred Years of Oriental Carpets. Edited by Hanna Erdmann. Translated by May H. Beattie and Hildegard Herzog. Berkeley, 1970: 75. (Orig. Siebenhundert Jahre Orientteppich. Zu seiner Geschichte und Erforschung. Hanna Erdmann, ed. Herford,1966.)
1973
Dimand/Mailey 1973, 119-120.
1976
The Arts of Islam. Exh. cat. Hayward Gallery, London, 1976: 117, pl. 99, repro. (cat. by Rosemary Crill).
1977
Bennett, Ian, ed. Rugs and Carpets of the World. New York, 1977: 128.
1978
Gans-Ruedin, Erwin. The Splendor of Persian Carpets. New York, 1978: 62-65, repro., color details.
1979
Eiland, Murray. Chinese and Exotic Rugs. Boston, 1979: 143.
1982
Beattie, May H., Charles Grant Ellis, and Hanna Erdmann. "The Art of the Mughal Carpet." Hali 4, no. 3 (1982): 220-238, esp. no. 5, repro.
1982
Beattie, May H. "The Widener Animal Carpet." Hali, 4, no. 3 (1982): 228, repro. 229 (color details), 237-238, fig. 5.
1982
The Indian Heritage: Court Life and Arts under Mughal Rule. Exh. cat. Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1982: 75, no. 196, repro. (cat. by Robert Skelton et al.).
1984
Bode, Wilhelm von, and Ernst Kühnel. Antique Rugs from the Near East. 4th rev. ed. Transl. Charles Grant Ellis. Ithaca, New York, 1984: 163, fig. 120. (Originally Vorderasiatische Knüpfteppiche aus älterer Zeit. Leipzig, 1914.)
1985
Akbar's India: Art from the Mughal City of Victory. Exh. cat. The Asia Society, New York; The Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts; The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 1985-1986: 113, 154-155, no. 73, repro.(cat. by Michael Brand & Glenn D. Lowry).
1989
Dye, Joseph M., III. "Fabrics, Carpets, and Costumes." In Romance of the Taj Mahal. Ed. Pratapaditya Pal et al. Exh. cat. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1989: 179, pl. 196.
1997
Torchia, Robert Wilson. "Widener's Gift." Hali 92 (May 1997): 88-97, 120, fig. 6.
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: 308-313, color repro.

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