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Artwork Details
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Title:Harshang Carpet
Date:19th century
Geography:Attributed to Northwestern Iran or Caucasus
Medium:Wool (warp, weft and pile); symmetrically knotted pile
Dimensions:H. 274 in. (696 cm) W. 106 in. (269.2 cm)
Classification:Textiles-Rugs
Credit Line:Gift of Joseph V. McMullan, 1968
Object Number:68.219
Carpet
Kurdistan has not usually been given its due as a region which has produced rugs of considerable excellence of design and rich brilliant colours, probably from early times on, well into the 19th century. Technically they range from the solid, heavy, double-warped Bijars of the 19th century to the flexible rug of this type, and the kileems, or flat-woven rugs of great delicacy. The design displayed in this example, clearly derived from a 17th century model, proved popular both in Eastern Persian and in the Caucasus. It continues well into the 18th century and can still be found in Caucasian rugs of the 19th century. The design is based on an alternating succession of two large lateral palmettes surrounded by small palmette blossoms, and a complex palmette arrangement composed of a central round floral medallion, four large palmette forms of two different designs facing this rosette, and four diamond-shaped cartouches, filled with rosettes, on the diagonal axis. A small-scale trellis system, as a secondary pattern, fills most of the background of the field.
[Arts Council 1972]
Joseph V. McMullan, New York (by 1965–68; gifted to MMA)
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Islamic Carpets: The Joseph V. McMullan Collection," June 11–August 2, 1970, no. 70.
"Catalogue of an exhibition held at the Hayward Gallery, London, 19 October–10 December 1972." In Islamic Carpets from the Joseph V. McMullan Collection. London: Arts Council of Great Britain, 1972. no. 27, p. 40, ill. pl. X (color).
McMullan, Joseph V., and Ernst J. Grube. Islamic Carpets. New York: Near Eastern Art Research Center, 1965. no. 27, pp. 112–19, ill. (color).
Schurmann, Ulrich. "The Joseph V. McMullan Collection. New York." In Islamische Teppiche. Frankfurt: Museum für Kunsthandwerk Frankfurt, 1968. no. 16, pp. 40–41, ill. (b/w).
"The Joseph V. McMullan Collection." In Islamic Carpets. New York, 1970. no. 70, ill.
Dimand, Maurice S., and Jean Mailey. Oriental Rugs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1973. no. 52, pp. 78, 115, ill. fig. 108 (b/w).
Swietochowski, Marie, and Marilyn Jenkins-Madina. Notable Acquisitions 1965–1975 (1975). p. 136, ill. (b/w).
Denny, Walter B. How to Read Islamic Carpets. New Haven and London: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2014. pp. 96–97, ill. fig. 82 (color).
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