IRAN, 17TH CENTURY

Although the motif of a bird in a rosebush is frequently found in Safavid textiles, depictions of paired birds are less common. A very similar textile fragment, which may be from the same original panel is in The Textile Museum, Washington D.C (3.113; Carol Bier, Woven from the Soul, Spun from the Heart, exhibition catalogue, Washington D.C., 1987, no.21, p.178). In her entry for the Textile Museum fragment Bier identifies the birds as Java sparrows, which were a popular caged bird and often kept in pairs. The sparrow is not native to Iran and was first introduced into India. Similarly, Bier identifies the rosebush as containing other exotic plants not native to Iran. This makes it likely that the imagery of the bird and the vegetation here is borrowed from foreign sources commenting on the internationalism of 17^th century Safavid Iran. A brocade panel of similar design, albeit with just one rather than two birds, and using a silver ground was sold in these Rooms, 26 October 2023, lot 70.

Ada Small Moore (1858-1955) collected material widely from the ancient Near East to Islamic textiles, Chinese bronzes and Japanese prints. She played a dominant role in building the Yale University Asian Art collections. She travelled widely and became close to Arthur Upham Pope and Phyllis Ackermann who guided her collecting of Persian art and textiles.