Carpets for Kings: Six Masterpieces of Iranian Weaving
At The Met Fifth Avenue
March 3–August 27, 2017
The six carpets exhibited are considered masterpiece weavings for both the excellence of their design and the high quality of their execution. They date from the 16th and 17th centuries, and all but one were produced in royal workshops. The sole exception—the carpet with the figures, which alludes to the feast following battle—may have been made in a provincial workshop.
While Iranian makers wove knotted pile carpets in the 15th century, complex new techniques and designs developed under the Safavid dynasty in the 16th century. Among the features introduced at this time are central medallions surrounded by scenes of animal combat; vine scrolls and blossoms that give the impression of spatial depth; and borders with different patterns in the upper and lower sections. In the 17th century, under Shah 'Abbas I (r. 1587–1629), luxurious carpets, with silk threads wrapped in strips of precious metal, decorated royal banquet halls and were produced for export or as diplomatic gifts to European nobility. The cross in the central medallion of one example here indicated that it was ordered for a European client.
Despite the artistic significance of these carpets, they were not exhibited for many decades, because they were in need of conservation. Thanks to the generosity of NoRuz at The Met and the Iranian American community, the carpets have all been conserved by The Met's textile conservation department over the past two years. As a result, the remarkable range and charm of Safavid carpets can be appreciated in a way that was previously impossible.
Before entering The Met's collection, the carpets in this gallery had undergone a variety of restoration treatments that were visually distracting or damaging to the original structure. To preserve and prepare these works of art for exhibition, new conservation campaigns have addressed these past treatments of mending stitches, reweaving, and patching with adhesives.
Earlier repair stitches have been removed from all six carpets in order to minimize damage. For one of the three Polonaise carpets on view, a textile conservator has inserted a new warp and weft in spaced plain weave for increased structural integrity. To retain visual continuity in areas that were subject to loss, matching fabric has been stitched or passively placed under the carpets. The two pile carpets with depictions of animals have undergone the removal of past adhesive treatments, a process that involves the application of poultices (a medium used to control the delivery of water or solvents). In both cases, the adhesive was on the reverse, necessitating its removal for the carpets' preservation rather than for aesthetic reasons.
Due to their fragile condition, four carpets have been pressure-mounted, allowing for vertical display. A solid padded support holds the textile in place with light pressure from a Plexiglas sheet or box, rather than with stitches. The carpet on the back wall is hung at an angle to alleviate stress at the top. Due to its fragility and the distortion caused by a modern canvas backing, one of the three pile carpets has been displayed flat. Netting has been stitched around its edges to mitigate any further losses.
Removal of repair stitches, before (left) and after (right)
Fabric underlay without stitches, before (left) and after (right)
Removal of triterpenoid resin adhesive, before (left) and after (right)
Edge stabilization with net, before (left) and after (right)
Text by Julia Carlson, Assistant Conservator, Department of Textile Conservation
Photos by Yael Rosenfield, Associate Conservator, Department of Textile Conservation
The three pile carpets on display have identical weave structures. They feature a plain-weave foundation rendered on depressed silk warp threads and are interwoven with three passes of the weft between each row of woolen asymmetrical knots. The use of very fine silk threads for the weft heightens the quality of the carpets on the platform and on this wall, allowing for a high concentration of knots to create a design of extreme finesse. In contrast, wefts of a coarser cotton thread, used in the carpet displayed at an angle, produce a less compact foundation, with only about half the number of knots.
The three Polonaise carpets on display, which emulate the style and pattern of pile carpets, are made entirely of silk, woven in plain weave, with sections interlinked by dovetail joins. The beauty of these carpets is enriched by the use of a brocading silver and/or gilded metal thread. In pile carpets, this thread, interlaced with the upper level of warps, produces a shimmering, densely interwoven surface, similar to embroidery, that contrasts textually with the raised areas of soft pile. In the group of Polonaise carpets, the metallic thread, employed all over the background and in small details, adds a lustrous appearance to the two-dimensional design.
Each group of carpets presents its own color palette, made with natural dyes. The deep, rich colors are characteristics of pile carpets, and the delicate pastel hues are typical for the Polonaise carpets.
Plain-weave depressed silk warps
Left: Carpet with silk weft and high concentration of knots. Right: Carpet with cotton weft and fewer knots
Left: Front of pile carpet with brocading metal thread. Right: Reverse of pile carpet with brocading metal thread
Text by Janina Poskrobko, Conservator, Department of Textile Conservation
Photos by Cristina Balloffet Carr, Conservator, Department of Textile Conservation
The three carpets in this section come from a group erroneously called "Polonaise" carpets. Produced during the reign of Shah 'Abbas I (r. 1587–1629), these silk carpets, woven with precious metal thread, were exported to Europe and used in palatial settings in Iran. Noble European houses acquired and commissioned the luxurious weavings, while European travelers to Iran during the period of Shah 'Abbas I and his successor, Shah Safi, reported seeing the floors of palaces near the Caspian Sea and in Isfahan "covered all over with tapestry, whereof the ground-work was of gold and silver." Around 1600, the Polish king Sigismund III Vasa ordered similar silk carpets from Iran through the Armenian agent Safer Muratowicz, at least one of which contained the king's coat of arms.
(The coat of arms presumed to be of the king's family also appears on large carpeta of this type, on view at The Met in gallery 462.)In the carpets' original condition, the colors of the salmon and green details would have been far brighter than they are today, as they have faded over time. Likewise, the gilded silver and silver of the ground have tarnished, turning it somewhat dull. As initially conceived, the gold-and-silver ground was achieved by wrapping metal strips around a silk core, leaving a slight space between the edges of the strips. With gilded-silver strips around a yellow silk core, the color would appear gold, and with silver strips around white silk, it would appear silver.
Text by Sheila Canby, Patti Cadby Birch Curator in Charge, Department of Islamic Art
Carpet, second half of the 16th century. Made in Iran. Silk (warp), cotton (weft), wool (pile); asymmetrically knotted pile, 99 3/4 x 70 in. (253.4 x 177.8 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Mr. and Mrs. Isaac D. Fletcher Collection, Bequest of Isaac D. Fletcher, 1917 (17.120.127)
