Floor Covering (Summer Carpet)
Not on view
This fragment of a summer carpet would have been used as a floor covering and like many works of this type, it is embellished with a repeated design of flowers and flowering plants. Such floor coverings are styled after the pile carpets that they replaced during hot weather. Typically, summer carpets were used in garden pavilions or on terraces; they also appear to have been important tent furnishings because of their easy portability. Surrounding the center field are broad ocher borders on three sides and a solid red border at the top. As a blue edge wraps around three sides and includes the edge of the top red border, all sections appear to be part of the original composition.
