About the Antique Rugs of the Future Project

Sheep Breeds of Azerbaijan

Shearing,
Sorting, Washing, Carding, Spinning

"The advantages of handspun yarn to machine spun yarn"

Rediscovery of Ancient Natural Dyes
Our Natural Dyestuffs

Mordants

Difference between synthetically and naturally dyed rugs

Weaving and Finishing Steps

Galleries of ARFP Caucasian Azerbaijani Rugs
 


back to "Historical Holbein Pattern carpets" main page


 

Type I Small pattern Holbein carpet in a green ground, late XV / early XVI century. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.


Small-pattern Holbein carpet (NOT ON VIEW)
15th century

DIMENSIONS
458.5 x 212.1 cm (180 1/2 x 83 1/2 in.)

ACCESSION NUMBER 39.614

MEDIUM OR TECHNIQUE: Wool warp, wool weft, wool knotted pile, Spanish knot

Mudejars, or Spanish Muslim craftsmen working for Christian patrons, made this vivid carpet, adopting its design--a field pattern of octagons and diamonds and a border derived from Arabic script--from contemporary Turkish carpets. Several European painters, including Hans Holbein the Younger (about 1497-1543) , depicted such carpets, and their design has become known as "small-pattern Holbein".

Unlike its Turkish models, this carpet is woven with the single warp knot then peculiar to Spain.


Warp, white wool; weft, white wool, four passes between each row of knots; Spanish knots, 20 to a square centimeter. The ground of the main field is dark green; the design of medallions is bright yellow, red, blue, black, green, violet, and white. The ground of the main border is red; the design, in imitation of Kufic (angular Arabic) script, is white, green, black, blue, yellow, and red. The guard borders have designs of medallions, interlaces, and geometric forms.

Provenance: Lent by Dr. George A. Kennedy and Mrs. Mary Price Kennedy, April 11, 1913. Transferred to Mrs. Mary Price Kennedy, June 26, 1926.
Credit Line: Elizabeth H. Flint Fund, In memory of Sarah Gore Flint Townsend