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Lot Essay
The knot count is approximately 6V x 7H per.cm.sq.
This sensational carpet is an important addition to the diminutive canon of silk Kashgar floral lattice carpets. It is possibly the largest of three surviving fragments of one of the most beautiful East Turkestan weavings. The largest of the two other fragments, sometimes referred to as the 'Kevorkian' silk Kashgar lattice carpet as it remained in the Kevorkian collection until it was sold in 1928, is published in Martin Volkmann, Old Eastern Carpets, Munich, 1985, pl.112, pp.254-255 and in Jon Thompson, Silk, Carpets and the Silk Road, Tokyo, 1988, pl.55, p.56. The smaller piece, a field fragment formerly in the Wher collection, was sold at Sotheby's New York, 5 December 1987, lot 121, catalogued as a silk provincial Mughal carpet fragment, having originally appeared in their 31 May 1986 catalogue, lot 127, as a silk Kashgar fragment but was withdrawn due to debate about its attribution. The fragment was subsequently published in Moshe Tabibnia, Intrecci Cinesi, Antica Arte Tessile XV-XIX Secolo, exhibition catalogue, Milan, 2011, pl.60, pp.232-233.
The Indian elements of the design can be explained by the close family and trading ties between the court of Kashgar and the Mughal rulers of India. The design of the present carpet is closely related to the silk foundation Mughal Indian lattice carpets of the 17th and 18th centuries, but it has a number of characteristics such as the blue plain outer stripe and profusion of contoured flowers that clearly indicate an East Turkestan origin. A carpet of this luxury would have been a special commission and the quality of the silk pile and the beauty and intricacy of the design suggest it may have been a royal commission for a large audience carpet.
Other surviving early silk Kashgar floral lattice carpets include the two Bernheimer collection silk Kashgar lattice carpet fragments, from another closely related carpet of darker colouring and more angular design, which were sold in these Rooms 14 February 1996, lots 95 and 96.
This sensational carpet is an important addition to the diminutive canon of silk Kashgar floral lattice carpets. It is possibly the largest of three surviving fragments of one of the most beautiful East Turkestan weavings. The largest of the two other fragments, sometimes referred to as the 'Kevorkian' silk Kashgar lattice carpet as it remained in the Kevorkian collection until it was sold in 1928, is published in Martin Volkmann, Old Eastern Carpets, Munich, 1985, pl.112, pp.254-255 and in Jon Thompson, Silk, Carpets and the Silk Road, Tokyo, 1988, pl.55, p.56. The smaller piece, a field fragment formerly in the Wher collection, was sold at Sotheby's New York, 5 December 1987, lot 121, catalogued as a silk provincial Mughal carpet fragment, having originally appeared in their 31 May 1986 catalogue, lot 127, as a silk Kashgar fragment but was withdrawn due to debate about its attribution. The fragment was subsequently published in Moshe Tabibnia, Intrecci Cinesi, Antica Arte Tessile XV-XIX Secolo, exhibition catalogue, Milan, 2011, pl.60, pp.232-233.
The Indian elements of the design can be explained by the close family and trading ties between the court of Kashgar and the Mughal rulers of India. The design of the present carpet is closely related to the silk foundation Mughal Indian lattice carpets of the 17th and 18th centuries, but it has a number of characteristics such as the blue plain outer stripe and profusion of contoured flowers that clearly indicate an East Turkestan origin. A carpet of this luxury would have been a special commission and the quality of the silk pile and the beauty and intricacy of the design suggest it may have been a royal commission for a large audience carpet.
Other surviving early silk Kashgar floral lattice carpets include the two Bernheimer collection silk Kashgar lattice carpet fragments, from another closely related carpet of darker colouring and more angular design, which were sold in these Rooms 14 February 1996, lots 95 and 96.