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Probably Kashan 16th Century

Silk Medallion Rug, late 16th century

Not on View

Medium

silk pile on silk warp and weft

Dimensions

overall: 240 x 173 cm (94 1/2 x 68 1/8 in.)

Credit Line

Widener Collection

Accession Number

1942.9.478

Artists / Makers

Kashan 16th Century (artist)

Image Use

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Provenance

J. Pierpont Morgan [1837-1913], New York. (P.W. French & Co., New York); inheritance from Estate of Peter A. B. Widener, by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, after purchase by funds of the Estate;[1] gift 1942 to NGA.

[1] The exact date of the sale to the Widener estate is not confirmed in the Widener collection records in NGA curatorial files. The rug is listed in Edith Standen's notes on the Widener collection both as being purchased "after 1918" from P.W. French & Co., and as "bought from French (after 1924?)." According to Wilhelm R. Valentiner in a 1925 article ("Persian Silk and Animal Rug of the XVI Century," Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 6, no. 7 (April 1925): 70-72), the Widener collection owned the rug by that time, therefore the purchase was presumably between 1918 and 1925. (This footnote was not included in the provenance published in the NGA systematic catalogue entry [Little et al. 1998, 289-293]).

Associated Names

French & Company LLC
Morgan, Sr., J. Pierpont
Widener, Joseph E.

Exhibition History

1916: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, (with J. Pierpont Morgan collection), c. 1916.

1935: Exhibition of Oriental Rugs and Textiles, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1935, 19, no. 8, repro.

1940: Exhibition of Persian Art, The Iranian Institute, New York, 1940, 8, no. 6 (Guide by Phyllis Ackerman).

1947: An Exhibition of Antique Oriental Rugs, The Art Institute of Chicago, 1947, no. 15, repro.

1972: From Persia's Ancient Looms, The Textile Museum, Washington, D.C., 1972, unnumbered, repro.

Technical Summary

Warp: silk, U2S, pale yellow, with alternate warps slightly depressed. Weft: silk, U, ivory x 3. Pile: silk, U and U2S. Asymmetrical knotting open at the left. Hor. 20½,21,23. Vert. 23,23,20. 420 to 440 knots to the square inch. The ends are cut. The sides consist of two cables of (U2S)3Z, one is weft attached, the other probably at least partially so. Red silk (apparently 2U) interwoven overcasting of the cables. Colors: ivory, black-brown, brownish yellow, bluish red, pale orange, dark green abrashed to yellow-greens, medium blue abrashed darker, and pale blue. Several colors have faded to ecru shades. This severely worn rug is in extremely fragile condition. There are many holes throughout the surface, and the silk pile is powdering. Numerous cracks have developed in the brittle warps. The corners and edges have degraded. The end finish extends into the pile, and wear streaks are apparent. In 1972, to prevent further deterioration, conservators attached the rug to a cotton fabric, mounted it on a stretcher, and enclosed it in a plexiglass box.

Bibliography

1916: Meyer-Riefstahl, R. "Oriental Carpets in American Collections: Part One. Three Silk Rugs in the Altman Collection." Art in America 4 (April 1916): 151, 159.

1925: Valentiner, Wilhelm R. "Persian Silk Animal Rug of the XVI Century." Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 6, no. 7 (January 1925): 70.

1935: Inventory of the Objects d'Art at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, The Estate of the Late P.A.B. Widener. Philadelphia, 1935: 135-136.

1938: Pope 1938-1939, 3:2346; pl. 1197.

1945: Pope, Arthur Upham. Masterpieces of Persian Art. New York, 1945: 184, color pl. F (facing page 177). Reprinted London, 1960, and Westport, Connecticut, 1970.

1959: Dilley, Arthur U. Oriental Rugs and Carpets. New York, 1931: frontispiece and p. 64. Also 1959 ed.: frontispiece.

1961: Erdmann, Kurt. "Die kleinen Seidenteppiche Kaschans." Pantheon 19, no. 4 (1961): 159-163, fig. 3.

1963: Erdmann, Kurt. "Die kleinen Seidenteppiche Kaschans." Heimtex 15, no. 12 (1963): 25-30, fig. 8.

1966: Erdmann, Kurt. Siebenhundert Jahre Orientteppich. Herford, 1966: 143, 147-148, fig. 186.

1970: Erdmann, Kurt. Seven Hundred Years of Oriental Carpets. Edited by Hanna Erdmann. Translated by May H. Beattie and Hildegard Herzog. Berkeley, 1970: 62-64, fig. 67. (Orig. Siebenhundert Jahre Orientteppich. Zu seiner Geschichte und Erforschung. Hanna Erdmann, ed. Herford,1966.)

1972: From Persia's Ancient Looms. Exh. cat. The Textile Museum, Washington, 1972: repro.

1974: Encyclopaedia Britannica. 30 vols. 15th ed. Chicago, 1974: 16:11, fig. 2.

1987: Herrmann, Eberhart. "A Great Discovery." Hali 36 (1987): 49.

1997: Torchia, Robert Wilson. "Widener's Gift." Hali 92 (May 1997): 88-97, 120, fig. 1.

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: 289-293, color repro.