These fragments come from an extremely finely woven carpet with a design of trees and flowers. The velvety appearance of the pile comes from the use of pashmina - the fine hair from the underbelly of the Kashmir goat, from which Kashmir shawls are made. This was used for pile carpets in preference to silk by carpet-weavers of the Mughal empire in the 17th and 18th centuries. Silk thread was used for the warps and wefts that form the underlying structure of the carpet.
A large portion of the carpet from which these fragments came is today in the Frick Collection in New York, but it too is formed of a patchwork of fragments.Set of five silk and pashmina carpet fragments, Mughal empire , mid 17th centurySet of five silk and pashmina carpet fragments. Silk warps and wefts and pashmina (goat-hair) pile. With a design of trees and flowers on a deep red ground.
Silk warp, S plied and Z spun. Cream, red or green in various parts of the fragment. The threads lie on two levels. About 50 to an inch.
Weft of red silk one shoot.
Woollen pile.
Persian knot, about 25 horizontally to the inch. About 24 vertically, ie. 600 to square inch approx.