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Ararat Rugs the Simonetti Mamluk Carpet 16th Century Revival Rug, Natural Dyed

$13,700
£10,395.24
€11,886.03
CA$19,135.19
A$21,275.72
CHF 11,109.01
MX$258,977.35
NOK 141,746.11
SEK 132,809.33
DKK 88,707.65
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About the Item

The source of carpet comes from the book How to Read – Islamic Carpets, Walter B. Denny, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 2014 fig.61,62. The five-star-medallion carpet was designed in the early 16th century by Mamluk Sultane of Cairo, Egypt. It is exhibited at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York as The ‘Simonetti’ Carpet. The conventional practice of naming Islamic carpets either after the place they were found (“Nigde Carpet”) or after a previous owner (“Anhalt Carpet”) in this case memorializes the former Italian owner of this magnificent example of fifteenth-century Cairene weaving under the Burji Mamluk dynasty (1382–1517). The Simonetti Carpet is commonly called a “five-color Mamluk carpet” because of its color palette. The materials (most notably S-spun, or clockwise-spun, wool), dyestuffs (a limited range of colors including a purple-red made from the lac insect), and distinctive repertoire of geometric designs are all characteristic of Mamluk carpets from the period. The width, about ninety-four inches (239 cm), is typical for contemporaneous carpets woven in Cairo. A roller-bar loom was used to make the carpet: the unwoven warps were unwound from a rotating cylindrical wood roller at the top of the loom, and the finished carpet was then wound up around a similar roller at the bottom. This method allowed the same loom to be employed to weave both very long and relatively short carpets of the same width. The Simonetti displays three of the geometric medallion designs usually seen in short Mamluk carpets (two of them repeated, combined in A-B-C-B-A sequence) in one very long, impressive work of art. Mamluk carpets originated in a physical environment that lacked the combination of abundant marginal grazing land and a temperate climate with cool winters that were common to most carpet-weaving areas in the Islamic world. While related to a broader tradition of Turkish weaving centered in Anatolia, far to the north, the designs of these carpets include atypical elements, such as stylized papyrus plants, that are deeply rooted in Egyptian tradition. Their unusual composition and layout probably represent an attempt to develop a distinctive product that could in effect establish a “Mamluk brand” in the lucrative European export market. The uncharacteristic color scheme—devoid of the undyed white pile and employing a limited range of three or five hues in much the same value—also suggests a conscious attempt to create a particular stylistic identity. Also virtually unique in the world of Islamic carpets is the S-spun wool. It has been argued that the tradition of clockwise wool spinning originated in Egypt because of the earlier Egyptian tradition of spinning flax into linen thread. Details of the plant’s botanical structure make it impossible to spin flax fiber in the more common counterclockwise direction utilized throughout the Middle East for wool and cotton. Mamluk carpets with the color combinations seen in the Simonetti are now generally accepted as part of an earlier tradition that has many links to the weaving of Anatolia, Iran, and Syria. The “three-color” Mamluk carpets, well represented in the Metropolitan’s collection, represent a later development that continued well after the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517. Many such carpets may have been produced well into the seventeenth century, and possibly even later. (Walter B. Denny in [Ekhtiar, Soucek, Canby, and Haidar 2011]). The design of the rug is interpreted by our designers with one central star, and soft colors are used for this rug. Color summary: 4 colors in total; Rare Grey 105 (Specially Washed) Natural Wool Color 37 (Specially Washed) Dark Brown 316 (No Dye – Sheep’s Own Color) Bamboo Beige 99 (Specially Washed) Group: Islamic Rugs Family Area: Mamluk Material of Pile: Natural Dyed Hand-spun Wool Material Warp / Weft: Wool on Wool Structure: Symmetrical knot on depressed warp inclining to the right Knots Density: 39x39 Production Place: Southeastern Anatolia – Adiyaman Province Stock Location: Tokyo Size (EU): 237 X 246cm Size (US): 7'9" X 8'0" Area (EU): 5.8m² Area (US): 62.8ft²
  • Creator:
    Ararat Rugs (Manufacturer)
  • Dimensions:
    Width: 93.31 in (237 cm)Length: 96.86 in (246 cm)
  • Style:
    Revival (In the Style Of)
  • Materials and Techniques:
    Natural Fiber,Organic Material,Wool,Hand-Knotted,Hand-Woven,Vegetable Dyed
  • Place of Origin:
  • Period:
  • Date of Manufacture:
    2021
  • Production Type:
    New & Custom(One of a Kind)
  • Estimated Production Time:
    Available Now
  • Condition:
  • Seller Location:
    Tokyo, JP
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU8206233203992

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The source of the rug comes from the book Renaissance of Islam, Art of the Mamluks, Esin Atil, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C., 1981 nr.125. This is a rug with a cup motif design late 15th-century rug from the Mamluk Sultanate of Cairo, Egypt. It is exhibited at the Washington, D.C. The Textile Museum, R.16.1.2 . The layout of this rug is characteristic of the smaller, almost square Mamluk carpet. A wide border encloses the field, divided into horizontal units consisting of a central square flanked above and below by rectangular panels. The height of the rectangular panels is approximately one-third that of the square and is equal to the width of the border. The corners of the central square are cut into triangles, creating an octagon with green ground. The octagon contains a blue polylobed medallion, which encloses an eight-pointed star with a multipetaled rosette in the core. The area between the star and the lobed medallion has floral motifs springing outward from the arms of the star. The angles of the octagon bear eight isolated and irregular polygons with a red ground; each of these units is adorned with a multipetaled rosette enclosed by a square with papyrus motifs springing from its sides and corners. The field of the octagon is filled with similar papyrus sprays, some of which appear to grow from the eight-stemmed cups placed between the polygons. The triangles in the corners bear a checkerboard pattern with a stylized lotus blossom (or fleur-de-lis) in each segment. The compositional layout of the rug is reminiscent of the illuminated frontispieces, which reveal similar proportions and internal divisions. Radiating designs of geometric components filled with floral motifs are a characteristic feature of Mamluk art...
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