A Portrait Rug of Sir Herbert Samuel, Kerman, Iran, 1921

Sir Herbert Louis Samuel (1870-1963) was a British Jewish politician aligned with the Liberal Party. As a member of the British Cabinet, he served as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Postmaster General, President of the Local Government Board, and eventually Home Secretary. After Britain occupied Palestine (then part of the Ottoman Empire) in 1917 during World War I, Samuel, a well known Zionist and supporter of Jewish national aspirations, was appointed 1st High Commissioner of the territory on July 1, 1920, a position he maintained until his return to Britain in 1925. Samuel was thus the first Jew to govern the historic Land of Israel in about 1,850 years.

The present portrait rug is a Jewish counterpart to the many such rugs woven in Kerman in central-southeast Iran in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It may be the only one depicting a contemporary Jewish figure; the vast majority feature portraits of Iranian or European royalty. The background is a typical Kerman floral field, surrounded by a border inset with sixteen round medallions. Twelve of these contain the emblems and Hebrew names of the twelve tribes of Israel. The remaining four give Samuel’s name in three languages: English (top center; reading bottom to top), Persian (bottom center), and Hebrew (bottom left); as well as the date and place in Hebrew (bottom right): 1 Elul [5]681 [September 4, 1921], Iran. (Kerman is specified in the upper border at center, while the artisan, Shuker, identifies himself in the lower border at center.) The names of the patrons, Moses ben Nisan and Judah ben Moses, are given in the lower two linked cartouches, and Stars of David are placed at each of the four corners as well as surmounting the British crown directly above Samuel’s head, presumably in a nod to his prominent place in the Zionist movement.

Physical Description

Undyed cotton and wool (35 1/4 x 24 7/8 in.; 895 x 630 mm), with fringes.

Literature

Anton Felton, Jewish Carpets: A History and Guide (Suffolk: Antique Collectors’ Club, 1997), 70 (no. 8).