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Medallion carpet


Rug
Northwest Persian
late 15th–early 16th century
Object Place: Persia

Medium/Technique Wool and cotton; wool pile
Dimensions Overall: 217.2 x 516 cm (85 1/2 x 203 1/8 in.)
Credit Line William Francis Warden Fund
Accession Number65.595
NOT ON VIEW
ClassificationsTextiles

DescriptionWool and cotton fabric, wool pile. Geometric design in field of quatrefoils and star-like motifs. Colors in field are red, white, yellow, and blue. Center of medallion predominantly orange. Borders predominantly blue with orange, red, yellow and white. Border shows stylized floral design. Condition: pile worn but design preserved. Some repairs in fabric.
ProvenanceBy 1907, C.F. Williams, PA [see note 1]. By 1940, with French & Company, Inc., New York [see note 2]. 1965, purchased from French & Company by the MFA (Accession date: May 12, 1965)

NOTES:
[1] The carpet was on loan to the MFA from Mr. Williams from 1907 to 1908.

[2] See Richard Ettinghausen, "'Six Thousand Years of Persian Art:' the Exhibition of Iranian Art," Ars Islamica, Vol. 7, No. 1 (1940), p. 109, where this carpet is referred to as being lent by French & Co. The carpet remained with French & Co. at least until 1947, when it was included in "An Exhibition of Antique Oriental Rugs" at the Art Institute of Chicago (probably #24 in that catalogue).