Carpet, Polonaise design, hand knotted silk pile on cotton warp and woollen and silk weft with areas brocaded with metal thread, Persian, early 17th century.
WARP: white cotton (z-spun, new analysis 03/09/15); unable to ascertain spin, ply or twist, 35 threads per inch (140 per dm); depressed.
WEFT: red wool and yellow silk; z-spun, unplied; 3 shoots after each row of knots (1 wool, 1 silk, 1 wool); 16 knots per inch (72 per dm). Brocaded thread: silver strip over white silk and silver strip over yellow silk. These brocaded threads do not go through to the back of the carpet, possibly because of the depressed warp. Seems to have been brocaded over 6 threads.
PILE: silk; 7 colours: yellow, green, dark blue, blue, light blue, beige, black; asymmetrical knot open to the left and tied around 2 threads; 280 knots per sq. inch (5040 per sq. dm)
SIDE FINISH: one cord oversewn with yellow silk
END FINISH: cut
DESIGN: Two ogival medallions each with a striped composite blossom. The ground is filled with arabesques, flowering stems and blossoms.
Main border: blossoms, palmettes in lobed medallions linked by elaborate arabesques.
Inner and outer border: floral meander.
Catalogue date: 9.8.91 (warp re-analysed 03/09/15, identified as cotton not wool)