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Carpet

A work made of wool, plain weave with supplementary wefts forming cut pile through a technique known as "spanish knots".
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of wool, plain weave with supplementary wefts forming cut pile through a technique known as "spanish knots".

Date:

Before 1473

Artist:

Hispano-Moresque
Spain

About this artwork

In the years since it was made for the Royal Monastery of Santa Clara in Spain, this carpet has changed significantly due to wear as well as extensive restoration. Traces of the restoration from over a century ago are visible today. The carpet restorers were highly skilled and they successfully replaced the intricate geometric motifs, Maltese crosses, and decorative Kufic script in the carpet’s well-worn areas. They used dyes, however, that have faded and changed in color over time—most notably where a pink hue has replaced the original rich brown.

Art Institute patron Charles Deering acquired this carpet and another one in 1917 from a dealer in New York for $14,500, which is equal to approximately $300,000 today. The bill of sale for that purchase stated that the carpet had already been significantly restored, a fact that did not diminish its desirability. Today, research into the original workshop that made the carpet, the workshop that conducted the restoration, and the dyestuffs is an ongoing project.

Status

On View, Gallery 238

Department

Textiles

Culture

Islamic

Title

Carpet

Place

Spain (Object made in)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1400–1473

Medium

Wool, plain weave with supplementary wefts forming cut pile through a technique known as "Spanish knots"

Dimensions

538.5 × 198.8 cm (212 × 78 1/4 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Mrs. Richard Ely Danielson

Reference Number

1964.1095

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/22263/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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