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Medallion Carpet

Iranian (Artist)
16th century
wool pile, metallic brocading, silk warp, silk and cotton weft
(Islamic World , Textiles and Furniture )

Carpets are perhaps the best known of all artworks from the Islamic world. Woven in a wide range of colors and patterns, pile carpets covered the floors of humble dwellings, courtly palaces, and religious institutions from earliest Islamic times. Because they are susceptible to wear and tear, relatively few carpets made before the 16th century have survived.

The medallion carpet is among the most familiar and popular of all rug types. The design is almost always symmetrical and often features a scalloped or starburst medallion in the center, set against a floral field and framed by wide borders filled with still more flowers, usually in panels. This fine (but typically worn) example also includes pairs of birds arranged around the center and verses of Persian poetry in the borders.

Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.

Charles T. Yerkes Sale, New York, 1910; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1910 [mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Conservation

Date Description Narrative
4/20/1960 Treatment repaired; cleaned
9/17/1996 Examination examined for condition
8/1/2001 Treatment cleaned; repared; mounted
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Geographies

Iran (Place of Origin)

Measurements

L: 83 × W: 59 in. (210.82 × 149.9 cm); Mounted L: 87 3/16 × W: 61 1/4 × D: 1 in. (221.5 × 155.5 × 2.54 cm)

Credit Line

Acquired by Henry Walters, 1910

Location in Museum

Not on view

Accession Number

In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.

81.7

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Hours

  • Wednesday—Sunday: 10 a.m.—5 p.m.
  • Thursday: 1–8 p.m.
  • Monday—Tuesday: Closed

Location

600 N. Charles St.
Baltimore, MD
21201

Phone

410-547-9000

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