Page 224 - ART OF THE ISLAMIC AND INDIAN WORLDS Carpets, Ceramics Objects, Christie's London Oct..27, 2022

By the beginning of the 19th century much of
the Indian carpet industry had become almost
obsolete but the inclusion of several Indian pile
carpets in London’s Great Exhibition of 1851
sparked its revival. Private workshops sprung
up across the country and by 1862 the British
Imperial government had set up a number of jail
workshops in the Punjab. There is a clear and
continuous progression evident in the design and
construction of the 19th century Indian carpets;
an early example that anticipates the later ‘jail’
production sold in these Rooms, 17 October 1996,
lot 401.

What unites this group is their predilection for
the 16th and 17th century saz leaf and palmette
designs of the Safavid and Mughal traditions. The
renaissance in Indian production was buoyed by
the weaver’s exposure to these designs through
the carpets of the Maharaja of Jaipur and the
collection in Bijapur, and later, the publication
of lavish carpet reference books with hand-
coloured plates (Ian Bennet, Jail Birds, London,
1987, no.5). The present lot is grouped within the
first half of the 19th century Agra production,
distinguished by their bold scale of drawing
in both the field and border, their fine weave,
achieved through the use of silk wefting and,
in particular, the shimmering hues and variety
of colour that become harder and less varied
in later production. While somewhat faded on
the face the palette of the present carpet, when
viewed from the reverse, reveals a delicate array
of colours including, rose-pink, plum-red and
lilac, set upon a delicately abrashed silver-grey
and ice-blue ground set within a delicate pale
yellow border. A carpet of comparable size and
field design but with a different border pattern
sold in these Rooms, 2 April 2020, lot 185. That
example retained a stronger azure-blue in the
field which was enhanced further by the lustrous
quality of the wool. A third example with the same
field and border as that example, but woven on
a red ground, is displayed in the Tehran Carpet
Museum, Iran, inv. no.430. exhibited as Herat,
17th century.
A common feature that all of the carpets in
this group share is their mirrored design which
■*206 creates an attractive balance, but also allowed
the weavers to scale their designs to almost
AN AGRA CARPET
NORTH INDIA, FIRST HALF 19TH CENTURY any size. A significantly larger example from
the same group with a linked arabesque border,
Of 'sickle-leaf' design, finely woven with silk wefts, uneven wear and corrosion
11ft.4in. x 9ft.3in. (345cm. x 282cm.) formerly in the Toms Collection, was offered the
these Rooms, 24 October, 2019, lot 266, and
£25,000-35,000 US$29,000-40,000 another sold in these Rooms, 25 April 2002,
€29,000-40,000
lot 100. Two slightly smaller examples that
have manipulated this field design to produce a
square format sold in these Rooms, 13 October
2005, lot 65 and 7 October 2014, lot 47.
Unlike the afore-mentioned examples, the
The inscription consists of four pairs of Devanagari letters,
which may correspond with the initials of weavers or the initial design of the present carpet incorporates a
letters of words from a mantra. small inscription.
222 In addition to the hammer price, a Buyer’s Premium (plus VAT) is payable. Other taxes and/or an Artist Resale Royalty 223
fee are also payable if the lot has a tax or λ symbol. Check Section D of the Conditions of Sale at the back of this catalogue.