A Safavid 'Vase-technique' carpet fragment, possibly Kirman, Southeast Persia

Dikran Kelekian
Karekin Beshir, New York
Anavian family, New York

Gaston Migeon, La Collection Kelekian: Etoffes & Tapis, Paris, 1909, pl. 2
James D. Burns, Visions of Nature, Iceland, 2010, pp. 170-171, pl. 55 

Pile low to knotheads with some dark browns completely oxidized and showing warps. Tears and holds throughout. All condition issues visible in catalogue illustration. Now sewn on black cotton backing. Very good color retention and drawing. In honest, unrestored condition. Please note that a license may be required to export textiles, rugs and carpets of Iranian origin from the United States. Clients should enquire with the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) regarding export requirements. Please check with the Carpet department if you are uncertain as to whether a lot is subject to this restriction or if you need assistance with such enquiries
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The corner fragment offered here is from a sickle-leaf design 'vase-technique' carpet and displays the elaborate design and brilliant color characteristic of these grand Safavid weavings.  There are five other smaller fragments known from the same original carpet, one in the Textile Museum, Washington, D.C., inv. 1968-11-6, see May H. Beattie, Carpets of Central Persia, Westersham, Kent, 1976, cat. no. 20, p. 54 and four pieces in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, T.369-1966, mentioned in Beattie, ibid, and H. Kirchheim et al, Orient Stars, London and Stuttgart, 1993, footnote 222, p. 365.

The term 'vase' was first coined to refer to a group of carpets with designs featuring stylized vases, which all share a similar weaving technique. The term has since been used to signify all carpets woven in this manner and thus, whether their designs include vases or not, they are known as 'vase' carpets. The structure of the 'vase-technique' group is very unusual in having three passes of wefts after each row of knots and having multi-colored wefts placed in a seemingly haphazard fashion as if to use up oddments of wool. There are several known fragments from similar 'vase-technique' carpets, for an example in the Victoria and Albert Museum, see Moya Carey, "Safavid 'Vase' carpet fragment," Hali, issue 184, pp. 40-41.  Fewer complete carpets survive with two of the world’s most renowned sickle-leaf ‘vase’ carpets being the Clark sickle-leaf carpet, sold Sotheby’s New York, June 5, 2013, lot 12, and the Gulbenkian sickle-leaf carpet, now in the collection of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, see Richard Ettinghausen, Persian Art: Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, 1985, pl. 30.

Just as in the cited examples, the vitality of this lot’s design is achieved through its highly complex network of vines, curling, split and serrated lancet or sickle-leaves, and plump palmettes. The most distinct design element found in this fragment is undoubtedly the sickle-leaf motif, which is the rarest of all ‘vase’ carpet patterns. The sickle-leaf motif itself is undoubtedly a Safavid rendition of the Ottoman saz, or curling, feathered leaf motif, such as those seen on the Cairene carpets, an example of which is lot 152 in this sale. The saz appears around 1550 in an album of design elements that would be appropriate in many media including ceramics, textiles, metalwork, book bindings, and carpets, that was produced by the imperial studio of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror, see Michael Franses, "The Influences of Safavid Persian Art Upon An Ancient Tribal Culture," in Heinrich Kirchheim, et al., Orient Stars, Stuttgart and London, 1993, p. 108. Eventually, sickle-leaves became a popular motif in carpets not only in Safavid and Ottoman court carpets but also in works from the Caucasus and Mughal India, see C. G. Ellis, Early Caucasian Rugs, Washington, D.C., 1975, pl. 22, the Caucasian 'vase' carpet from the collection of Harold Keshishian, and Dimand and Mailey, Oriental Rugs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1973, pp. 148-9, fig. 129, cat. no. 55, respectively. The sickle-leaves in the fragment offered are a mixture of bi-color and monochrome and thus are equally related to the Clark leaves, where the primary leaves were woven in a single color, as well as the Gulbenkian leaves, which were executed mostly in two colors.

In addition to the sickle-leaves, another design element found in the lot offered here and the Clark and Gulbenkian carpets is the coiled, stylized cloudband. This motif can be also seen in lattice-design 'vase-technique' carpets such as the Sarre/Berlin fragment and two fragments in the Musée des Tissus, Lyon, see Roland Gilles, et al., Le Ciel dans un Tapis, Paris, 2004, pls. 50 and 51, pp. 184-187. Since the current fragment shows the upper left corner of the carpet, it is hard to determine with certainty whether the overall design was arranged along a central axis as in the Clark and the Gulbenkian carpets. The narrow border of the present fragment and numerous 'vase-technique' carpets, has led some scholars to speculate that they are the inner guard borders to a wide major border that would more comfortably complement the large design elements of the field, see Steven Cohen, “Safavid and Mughal Carpets in the Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon,” Hali, issue 114, p. 85.  As there are many of these weavings with the narrow border, it appears to be a feature of early 'vase-technique' carpets, including the Clark and Gulbenkian carpets.  The thin bi-color inner guard stripe of this fragment is very similar to that found in the Gulbenkian carpet.

Besides specific design elements, coloring also relates this fragment to other ‘vase’ technique carpets as a distinct characteristic of this group is their vivid color range and the highly sophisticated juxtaposition of these colors. Because of the dark ground, the lot offered here is clearly more closely related to the Gulbenkian carpet. The great variety of hues juxtaposed against a saturated field, along with the lavish drawing and complex composition, make this fragment even more luxurious and a true testament to the splendor of Safavid art.