PROBABLY ISFAHAN, CENTRAL PERSIA, EARLY 17TH CENTURY

Before 2007, the whereabouts of this magnificent, large silk Safavid ‘Polonaise’ carpet were unknown; it had reputedly been preserved in an ancient Osakan private collection in Japan for generations. Unrecorded by Friedrich Spuhler in his extensive research on this specific group of carpets in 1968, and seemingly unpublished or unrecorded elsewhere, it is an exciting new addition to the much smaller group of large format, seventeenth century ‘Polonaise’ carpets.

Japan’s isolationist foreign policy, Sakoku, “locked country”, was supported by the powerful Tokugawa Shogunate during the Edo period (1603-1868). In the course of its implementation, the relatively independent daimyos [feudal lords] had been stripped of virtually all their powers by such measures as: alternate attendance (sankin kötai) at court in Edo; military service; and a veiled tax in the form of required gifts to the Shogun. Japan’s doors were closed to the West and relations and trade routes between Japan and other countries were severely limited. While the Japanese were forbidden to leave the country, the only Europeans to be granted permission to continue trading were the Dutch due to their loyal attitude towards the Japanese central government and their flexibility in religious matters. The highly successful Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC), more commonly known as the Dutch East India company, had been trading since 1602, first establishing a base at Hirado before moving to Nagasaki in 1641.

Despite these trading limitations, a variety of textiles, rugs and carpets found their way to Japan from the mid 16th century as gifts to the Shogun and high officials. Their popularity grew particularly amongst the military commanders, an example of which can be seen in the battle surcoat (jin-baori) of the great Shogun Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598). Housed in the Kodai-ji temple, Tokyo and classified as Important Cultural Property, its tabard incorporates a fragmentary 16th century Safavid kilim that closely relates to the small group that include the Figdor kilim in the Thyssen Bornemisza Collection, Lugano and the Rothschild kilim, sold Christie’s London, 8 July 1999, lot 686. The jin-baori, was displayed in an exhibition held in the National Museum of Ethnology in Osaka in 1994, (8 September - 29 November) which showcased a surprising number of Persian and Indian carpets, including two ‘Polonaise’ and red-ground wool Isfahans. (‘Woven Flowers of the Silk Road’, by Toh Sugimura, HALI, 76, 1994, p.108).

The number of rare and historically important carpets from Japanese institutional holdings in that exhibition shows a tradition of carpet appreciation which appears as early as the 3rd century AD, where woollen floor coverings, presented to Himiko, Queen of Yamatai, were recorded in the Chinese historical chronicles, Gishi-Wajin-den, 233 to 297AD. Carpets with ‘gold and silver threads’ are recorded in the diaries kept by the personnel of the VOC kept during their stay in Japan between 1641-1820, (Paul Velde, 'Deshima, mon Amour: the Publishing of the Marginalia of the Deshima Diaries, 1641-1820', London, 1990, pp.102-112).

Another notable example of Japan’s appreciation of exotic textiles can be seen in the annual Gion Matsuri festival in Kyoto, established in the Heian period (late 8th-12th century), but which first began parading the neighbourhood floats in the Muromachi period (1333-1573). It became an opportunity for the bourgeoisie of Kyoto, many of whom had grown wealthy from the flourishing local silk industry, to decorate their floats, each out-competing their neighbour with increasingly costly textile decoration that included exotic rugs and carpets from India, Persia and central Asia. According to Sugimura, the Gion section of the Osaka exhibition included two 17th century ‘Polonaise’ carpets which he suggests could have been gifted to the Daimyo (feudal lords) by Western or Japanese traders.

One of the most influential and wealthy families in Japan were the Konoike who, from the late 16th century, grew to become one of the most financially important in Osaka. Specialising in money exchange whereby landlords gave their property to the Konoike in exchange for money, they amassed a sizeable and important art collection. They remained an influential family for many years but by 1940 had begun to loose their control. In 1940, part of Baron Konoike’s collection appeared for sale at the Osaka Bijutsu Club, Osaka, with subsequent sales in 2004 and 2007. The auctions were certainly not as public as those held in the West and were by invitation only, with limited, unillustrated catalogues, absent of property titles, making it very difficult to confirm that the present ‘Polonaise’ was amongst these items sold.

While we are short on conclusive proof, the appearance of such a carpet, completely unknown in the West, surviving in this condition, together with the few facts that are certain about its provenance, is consistent with its export to Japan having taken place when interest in Oriental carpets was at its greatest, in other words, at a time when the carpets themselves were being made in the 17th century.

Safavid Iran and ‘Polonaise’ production

Shah 'Abbas I (1587-1629) had a great appreciation for sumptuous textiles, silks and woven carpets, and production in the thriving new capital of Isfahan rapidly grew under his patronage with a number of workshops weaving simultaneously during the 17th century. A number of these would have been working directly for the shah, producing carpets which were specifically commissioned to be appreciated locally. Two carpets of this group are known to have been given in royal waqf to the great Shiite shrine of the Imam 'Ali at Najaf. Silk was one of the most costly materials available and, as such, was reserved almost exclusively for the courts use. European visitors travelling to Persia at the time, commented specifically on the richness of the silk textiles and carpets that they saw. Their reports enable both the origins and dating of this group of carpets to be made relatively securely.

The 'Polonaise' group were woven in brightly coloured silks, mostly on a cotton warp and silk weft. They became known for incorporating flat-woven silver and, or silver-gilt metal-thread which gave them a dazzling appearance. These harmonious and balanced compositions of design and colour, although Persian inspired, were not typical of Persian tastes but clearly corresponded to those of the West. A large proportion of "Polonaise" carpets made at the time ended up in Europe where they found great favour with the Baroque nobility of the 17th century courts. They were given as ambassadorial gifts to deserving high-ranking officials, foreign emissaries and leaders of trade delegations. The Polish royalty in particular held a deep fascination for Persian works of art. Records show that in as early as 1584, King Stephen Báthory (r.1576-1586) acquired thirty-four Persian textiles, while in 1601 a group of eight Safavid silk carpets embellished with gold was ordered by Sigismund Vasa III of Poland for his daughter’s wedding, (Langer, op.cit. pp.118-123). These appear to have been delivered in 1602, some or all of which then passed by marriage into the Wittelsbach family and are now in the Residenz Museum, Munich.

At the time of publishing his seminal study on the subject of ‘Polonaise’ carpets, Friedrich Spuhler, documented around 230 complete and fragmentary examples, from which he drew the conclusion that many of the rugs either show identical designs, or take sections of endless repeat patterns which are either then displaced by one width or are increased on a larger scale. (F. Spuhler, Siedene Reprasentationsteppiche der mittleren bis spaten Safawwidenzeit – Die sog. Polenteppiche, Berlin 1968). Since its publication, further examples have been recorded including twelve 'Polonaise' formerly in the Rothschild collection, that were sold in Paris that same year.

Of those recorded, the vast majority were woven in the smaller format of approximately 220 x 130cm., with just thirty or so examples considered to be of larger carpet format measuring around 400 x 180cm. Fifty examples from the corpus were produced as identical pairs in both formats. The present carpet is not listed in Spuhler’s records and, to the best of our knowledge, there is no recording of a likely pair. At approximately 544 cm. in length, it is the second longest recorded, with just the silk and metal-thread ‘Polonaise’ in the Osterreichisches Museum fur angewandte Kunst, Vienna, measuring slightly longer at 556cm. (Angela Volker, Vienna 2001, T8331/1992 KB. pl.73, pp.208-9). In close contention is the slightly shorter but wider Rosenborg Coronation ‘Polonaise’ carpet Copenhagen, (525cm. x 305cm.) which was presented to Queen Sophie Amalie of Denmark in 1666. Rarely exhibited, that carpet remains immaculately well preserved and fresh in colour.

Design

Spuhler notes that the majority of the field designs were based on thirteen different patterns and stylistically almost all of the carpets seem to belong to the same period. As the group developed their designs explored a major departure from traditional Persian carpets, abandoning the use of a single ground colour, filling the compartments formed by the scrolling vine with various coloured silks and metal-thread, a technique that was already employed in manuscript illumination.

The present carpet however is one of the few exceptions where its pattern does not comfortably fit any of the systems recorded by Spuhler. The design, woven entirely in silk on a monochrome red field with the absence of metal thread, comprising bold radiating curvaceous leafy vine enclosing cartouche medallions, is stylistically much closer to the contemporaneous 17^th century group of woollen ‘Strapwork’ carpets woven in Isfahan. The striking designs of that group are formed of broad ascending spirals that form a bold, open lattice that fill the field. The Emery ‘Strapwork’ carpet, in the Cincinnati Art museum, Ohio (inv.no.1954.480) bears the most complex design of the group, closely followed by the Benguiat ‘Strapwork’ carpet that was last seen at auction in New York in 1925. Other examples from the group include the Jaipur carpet, sold Sotheby’s, London 1963 to the Textile Gallery, the Tabbagh carpet, Museum fur Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg (Inv.no. 1959.90 St.132.), and the Clark carpet, Corcoran Museum of Art, Washington, sold Christie’s New York, 24 November 2009, lot 133, (Isfahan ‘Strapwork’ Carpets, Ian Bennett, HALI, Issue 41, pp.35-43).

The similarity between the two groups is strengthened further when considering the silk and metal-thread, Aberconway ‘Polonaise’ fragment in the Victoria and Albert museum, London, (T.36-1954) and its larger pendant given in royal waqf, probably by Shah Abbas, to the great Shiite shrine of the Imam ‘Ali at Najaf. Finely woven on silk warps and wefts, the Aberconway fragment retains much of its rich colouring and the striking design of broad interlaced arabesque strapwork must have been quite arresting when seen in its entirety. A comparable large red-ground silk and metal-thread ‘Polonaise’ carpet to the present lot, formerly with L. Bernheimer in Munich, was gifted by Dr F. Mannheimer to the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1952, (BK.17273) (A. U. Pope, A Survey of Persian Art, Oxford, 1938, pl.1248). The delicate design of metal-thread split palmette vine with part-cartouche medallions does not have the same energy as our radiating branches, but was well received when it was displayed at the Persian Art Exhibition in London in 1936. Sadly it now appears more worn and faded than its more colourful illustration in Pope. Another of the four ‘Polonaise’ in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, is a fragment of a large red ground carpet, without brocading, which had formerly been with Dr. Albert Figdor, Vienna, eventually passing to Dr. F. Mannheimer and later the museum in 1960, (BK-17276). Friedrich Spuhler, ‘Four so-called Polish Rugs in the Rijksmuseum’, The Rijksmuseum Bulletin, 2011, p.93, fig.4.

A monochrome ruby-red ground, ‘Polonaise’ silk rug, with a familiar design taken from the Isfahan carpets of ‘in-and-out palmette’ design, without metal-thread, is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, (Acc.17.120.143) while a further small salmon-pink ground ‘Polonaise’ with a dense design of metal-thread cloud bands entwined with silk leafy vine, formerly in the collection of the Barons Nathaniel and Albert von Rothschild, was sold in these Rooms, 8 July 1999, lot 187, its more worn pair was sold in Paris, Palais Galliera, 28 March 1968, lot 102, by part of the Paris branch of the same family.

Other monochrome ‘Polonaise’ rugs include a small but vibrant green-ground rug gifted to King Umberto II of Italy which sold most recently at Sotheby’s, New York, 1 October 2015, lot 68. A medallion ‘Polonaise’ rug in the Hallwylska Museum, Stockholm also features a green field, see Annette Grunland, et al., ICOC XII, Stockholm 2011, p. 31, and another rug formerly in the Benguiat collection sold Sotheby's London, 28 April 1993, lot 61.

The preservation of the present carpet is remarkable for its age. Without restoration, it appears to have escaped the ravages of time and was probably only used on ceremonial occasions. A natural corrosion has occurred within certain dyes, most notable being the dark brown and ivory. Over the course of time the silk pile on so many examples lost much of its colour following the exposure to sunlight. The red dye, woven with the fugitive dye taken from the Safflower,is particularly prone to disappearing, leaving a softer camomile-yellow colour, similar to the narrow abrashes present in our carpet. Ironically it is this dye which gives the intense field colour in the present carpet.

This monumental ‘Polonaise’ carpet is an exciting new addition to the much smaller corpus of known large silk ‘Polonaise’ carpets woven during the golden age of Safavid art. Of unique design, it further adds to the the majesty of carpet design during the reign of the Shah ‘Abbas the Great and illustrates their far reaching appeal not only to the West but also to countries further East.