The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 29, 2024

Carpet Fragment

Carpet Fragment

late 1800s–early 1900s
Overall: 61 x 37.5 cm (24 x 14 3/4 in.)
Location: not on view

Description

This rectangular fragment has large spade-shaped palmettes filling each corner. The palmettes bear dark blue and red animals and birds on a cream/ivory background. The central dark blue medallion encloses an irregular, inscription-bearing green square. At the top and bottom center is a smaller inscription-bearing square with date palms extending from cardinal points; vertical palms divide the rectangle, and horizontal palms delineate the start of a new repeat wherein palmettes have dark blue background with cream/ivory animal figures.
  • Dye analysis
    Scholars have long debated about this carpet fragment; some think it to be the earliest known silk knotted pile carpet from Persia while others think it is a modern creation. To answer this question, in 2019 the CMA collaborated with conservation scientists at the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields (IMA) who undertook dye analysis on samples of the red, blue, and green silk pile. Scientists at IMA performed Raman microspectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LCMS). Based on results from these analyses, we now can date the carpet fragment to between 1884 and 1928. The green silk is blue overdyed with yellow. The yellow dye is Metanil yellow, first synthesized in 1879. The red dye is Congo Red, first synthesized in 1884. The blue dye is indigo, but we don’t know if it is natural or synthetic indigo as it is difficult to distinguish between the two. If we could definitively prove that the blue is synthetic indigo, that dye was not available until 1898, allowing us to further narrow the creation date of this carpet fragment.
  • ?-before 1928
    (Paul Mallon [1884–1975], Paris, France, sold to George Hewitt Myers)
    by 1928-1947
    George Hewitt Myers [1875-1957], Washington, DC, returned to Paul Mallon
    1947-1975
    Paul Mallon [1884–1975], Paris, France, given to his stepson Milton Girod?
    1975?-1988
    Milton Girod [1922-2011], La Jaille Chahaignes-sur-Loir, Sarthe, France, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1988-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Koechlin, Raymond, Gaston Migeon, and Florence Heywood. Oriental Art; Ceramics, Fabrics, Carpets; One Hundred Plates in Colour. London: Ernest Benn Ltd., n.d. [1928]. Reproduced: color plate LXXXII
    "The Year in Review for 1988." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 76, no. 2 (1989): 30-75. Accessed May 25, 2020. Mentioned: p. 73, no. 191 25160061.
    Smith, Gregory D., Joan M. Esson, Victor J. Chen, Robin M. Hanson. “Forensic dye analysis in cultural heritage: Unraveling the authenticity of the earliest Persian knotted-pile silk carpet.” Forensic Science International: Synergy, Volume 3, 2021, 100130, ISSN 2589-871X, p. 1-10 www.sciencedirect.com
  • {{cite web|title=Carpet Fragment|url=false|author=|year=late 1800s–early 1900s|access-date=29 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1988.243