Oriental rugs, antique and modern . nesthe character of workmanship of a particular period, but affords astandard for determining by comparison the relative age of otherpieces. The year 946 corresponds with our year 1540 A. D., andthe position of the date indicates that it was inscribed a little beforethe completion of the fabric. Accordingly, it would not be unreason-able to assume that the carpet was begun during the closing yearsof the reign of Ismael, who died at Ardebil in 1524, and that it wasfinished during the reign of Tamasp I. To infer that at this period were many such carpets would
Oriental rugs, antique and modern . nesthe character of workmanship of a particular period, but affords astandard for determining by comparison the relative age of otherpieces. The year 946 corresponds with our year 1540 A. D., andthe position of the date indicates that it was inscribed a little beforethe completion of the fabric. Accordingly, it would not be unreason-able to assume that the carpet was begun during the closing yearsof the reign of Ismael, who died at Ardebil in 1524, and that it wasfinished during the reign of Tamasp I. To infer that at this period were many such carpets would be amistake; since this was doubtless woven by the order of the court,and by one of the most skilled artisans, who may have made it thecrowning labour of his life. It indicates the highest technique ac-quired in the early part of the Safavid dynasty. Besides the mosque carpets, other pieces such as small prayerrugs were used for devotional purposes. When the first of themwere made is unknown, though they existed in the days of the. Plate 18. So-called Ispahan in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New Yc ORK EARLY RUG WEAVING 85 Caliphs, when the words of the Prophet were still fresh in the mem-ories of his followers; and they were also used at an early periodamong Turkomans. The oldest that remain belong to the earlypart of the Safavid rule. One that was formerly in the collec-tion of Stefano Bardini of Florence and is now owned by Altman, appeared at the exhibit of the MetropolitanMuseum of Art in 1910. It is a woollen piece with a length ofnearly five and a half feet and a breadth of three and a quarter. Inthe central field is a prayer arch resembling some of a later period,with outlines gracefully recurving near the base and broken on eachside by a pentagonal-shaped flower. All parts of each of the twotrees that rise from the bottom of the field are reversely duplicatedin the other. Some of the stiffness of drawing of the earlier carpetsremains, but the blossoms ar
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, bookpublishernewyo, bookyear1922
