Analyzing the Method of Categorizing and Assigning Carpets to the Weaving Geography of Kashan in Western Scientific Studies (1901-1926)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Shiraz University of Arts, Shiraz, Iran, (Corresponding Author)

2 Assistant Professor, Shiraz University of Arts, Shiraz, Iran.

Abstract

Introduction
Oriental carpets, Persian ones in particular, were not thoroughly known until the early 20th century. These carpets were generally collected by collectors for their mere beauty or material value rather than for their historical or cultural aspects. At the end of the 19th century, some researchers tried to acquire more knowledge about Oriental carpets. Lessing, Bode, Riegel, Martin, and Sarre were among the leading characters. The scientific analysis of carpets in the Western academies began with the two schools of Berlin and Vienna. One of the concerns of these researchers in this period was the explanation of technical and aesthetic models of identification for categorizing and assigning Persian carpets to specific weaving geographies. Since the data in this period were generally obtained by relying on museum carpets and the library method--rather than by survey, there was no accurate knowledge about the variety of the designs, patterns, and methods of weaving and production of Persian carpets. Thus, the classification, dating, and assigning of carpets to a carpet-weaving area was done every now and then with incorrect criteria. Kashan was one of the areas of carpet weaving that were neglected in Western studies in the years between 1901 and 1926 due to the lack of information or incorrect assignments.
 
Research Method
The goal of this research is to identify and analyze the method of categorizing and assigning carpets to the weaving geography of Kashan from 1901 to 1926 in Western studies. The authors have tried to answer this question: what methods have Western researchers used in this era to classify and assign carpets to Kashan? The research was carried out adopting a historical approach and a qualitative analysis, based on library data and first-hand documents, by the means of note-taking. Almost all available samples in the time span from 1901 to 1926 were referred to.
Research Findings
According to the findings of the research, from 1901 to 1910, the knowledge about the weaving geography of Kashan was very limited, and carpets weaved both in the Safavid and Qajar eras, including the Kashan silk group, Salting, or Polonaise, were all assigned to other regions. Even in the categories provided by early researchers of the Iranian carpet weaving geography, the name of Kashan, as a carpet weaving region was generally absent. For the first time, Ripley (1904) mentioned Kashan as one of the subsidiary carpet weaving areas in Iran. Also, in this decade, researchers never mentioned the geography of Kashan carpets in the assignment of the Safavid carpets in the European collections except for the Ardabil (Sheikh Safi) carpet, which was attributed to Kashan because of its inscription. Although Lewis (1911) has classified Kashan as one of the subcategories of Azerbaijan textile geography, but between 1910 and 1920 the knowledge and, consequently, the studies about Kashan carpet weaving expanded. Hawley (1913) described Kashan as an important area in the field of carpet weaving in Iran. He carefully investigated the technical and aesthetic characteristics of Kashan’s carpets in the Qajar era. Moreover, Pünter (1917) for the first time introduces the group of Kashan pictorial carpets to the western scientific community. The years between 1920 and 1926 can be considered an important period in the recognition of Kashan’s new woven (Qajar and Pahlavi) and antique (Safavi) carpets. The key figure of this period who played a prominent role in this identification was Pope. By holding the Chicago Exhibition in 1926, he established the name of Kashan as a prominent city in the geography of Iranian carpet weaving, where probably some of the most prominent Safavid carpets were woven. It should be mentioned that in the same period, Kendrick in 1922, for the first time, challenged the hypothesis that Ardabil carpet was woven in Kashan and argued against it. Later, Pope rejected the hypothesis in his "A Survey of Persian Art from Prehistoric Times to the Present," although, in the catalog of the 1926 Chicago exhibition, he clearly considered the carpet to be woven in Kashan.
Conclusion
The results showed that the lack of identifying models for the extensive geography of Persian carpets caused the carpet experts not to have a detailed knowledge about the weaving geography of Kashan in the initial studies and, thus, they assigned some new (Qajar and Pahlavi) and antique (Safavi) carpets, which today with no doubt are assigned to Kashan to other areas. Even in the categories presented by the first carpet researchers of the geography of Iranian carpet weaving, the name of Kashan, as a carpet weaving region, was absent; however, between 1910 and 1920, studies and consequently the knowledge about Kashan carpet expanded, and with the Chicago exhibition in 1926, the name of Kashan was established as a prominent city in the geography of Iranian carpets, where some of the most prominent Safavid carpets were woven. This path has gradually added up to the knowledge about the carpet weaving geography of Kashan, and it did not happen overnight.

Keywords

References

  1.  

    Bakhtiyari, S., Rizazadeh, T., & Shadlou, D. (2022). Investigating the Effective Factors in Collecting Carpets by European in the Qajar Period. Parseh Journal of Archaeological Studies. 5(18) :285-305. DOI: 10.30699/PJAS.5.18.285. [In Persian]

    Bassam, J. (2013). Oriental Carpet Lexicon. Tehran: Ministry of Science Research and Technology and Iran Encyclopedia Compiling Foundation.[In Persian]

    Cheetsazian, A.H. (2006). Art in the carpet Industry of the safavid period. Journal of Kashan Shenasi. 2(3): 108-126. [In Persian]

    Cheetsazian, A.H. (2010). The Kashan Carpet Its History and Splendor. Tehran: Soroush Publications. [In Persian]

    Cheetsazian, A.H. (2022). Scientific Conference “The Truth about the Condition of the Maqsood Kashani Carpet”. Kashan: Kashan University. [In Persian]

    1. Wood, B. (2000). A Great Symphony of Pure Form: The 1931 International Exhibition of Persian Art and Its Influence. Ars Orientalis. Vol. 30, 113-130. Doi:10.2307/4434265

    Daryaie, N. (2011). Iranian Carpets with non-Iranian names. Journal of Honar-Ha-ye-Ziba: Honar-ha-ye Tajasomi. 3(45): 45-52. Doi: 20.1001.1.22286039.1390.3.45.5.2. [In Persian]

    Dashtizadeh, M., Javani, A. & Sojoodi, F. (2017). Review on the Conceptual Changes of Islamic Art in the Museum Collections.Cultural History Studies (Pejuhesh Nameh Anjoman-e Iraniye Tarikh). 8(30) :31-50. [In Persian]

    Edwards, A. Cecil. (1970). A Persian Caravan. New York: Books for Libraries Press.

    Erdmann, K. (1970). Seven Hundred Years of Oriental Carpets. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.

    Franses, M. (1999). Some Wool Pile Persian-Design Niche Rugs. Oriental Carpets & Textile Studies, Vol. 5, 36-136.

    Fulco, D. (2017). Displays of Islamic Art in Vienna and Paris Imperial Politics and Exoticism at the Weltausstellung and Exposition Universelle. MDCCC 1800, Vol. 6, 51-66. Doi: 10.14277/2280-8841/MDCCC-6-17-4

    Griffin Lewis, G. (1911). The Practical Book of Oriental Rugs. London: J. B. Lippincott company.

    Gurdji, V. (1901). Oriental Rug Weaving. New York: F.Tennyson Neely Co.

    Hadji Hasan, H.(2003). A look at some Iranian carpets in the museum (Persian carpets and western naming). Journal of Persian handwoven carpet, 9(21-22): 30-39. [In Persian]

    Hawley, W. A. (1913). Oriental Rugs, Antique and Modern. London & New York: John Lane Company.

    Ittig, A., & Walker, D. (2005). History and art of carpet weaving in Iran (based on Encyclopædia Iranica). Supervisor: Ehsan Yarshater. Tehran: Niloofar Publications. [In Persian]

    Kadoi, Y. (2012). Arthur Upham Pope and his 'research methods in Muhammadan art': Persian carpets. Journal of Art Historiography: Islamic Art Historiography, Vol. 6, 1-12.

    Kadoi, Y. (2013). A Loan Exhibition of Early Oriental Carpets, Chicago 1926. In: The Shaping of Persian Art: Collections and Interpretations of the Art of Islamic Iran and Central Asia. Edited by Yuka Kadoi and Iván Szántó. Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 254-273. Doi: 10.1080/00043079.1926.11409482

    Karl, B. (2019). Carpets and Empire: The 1891 Exhibition at the Handelsmuseum in Vienna. In: À l’orientale: Collecting, Displaying and Appropriating Islamic Art and Architecture in the 19th and Early 20th Centuries. Edited by Marcus Milwright and Mariam Rosser-Owen”. leiden: Brill, pp. 111-123. DOI: 10.1163/9789004412644_011

    Kendrick, A. F., & Tattersall, C.E.C. (1922). Hand-woven Carpets, Oriental and European. New York: Scribner's sons.

    Komaroff, L. (2000). Exhibiting the Middle East: Collections and Perceptions of Islamic Art. Ars Orientalis, Vol. 30, 1-8.

    Lessing, J. (1877). Altorientalische Teppichmuster: Nach Bildern und Originalen des XV. – XVI. Berlin: republished: Wasmuth 1926); translated into English as Ancient Oriental Carpet Patterns after Pictures and Originals of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries. London: H. Sotheran & Co., 1879.

    Mirzaei, A. (2020). Contexts of Formation and Consequences of Holding the First World Carpet Exhibition in Austria. Cultural History Studies (Pejuhesh Nameh Anjoman-e Iraniye Tarikh), 11(44) :158-133. DOI: 10.29252/chs.11.44.2. [In Persian]

    Mirzaei, A. 2021. Cultural Dimensions of Iran's Participation in the 1873 Vienna World's Fair and its Impact on the Production and Export of the Iranian Carpets.Journal of Iranian Islamic Period History, 12(26): 149-176. DOI: 10.22034/JIIPH.2021.12970.  [In Persian]

    Martin, F. R. (1908). A history of oriental carpets before 1800. Vienna: Printed for the Author with Subvention from the Swedish Government in the I and R. State and Court Printing Office.

    Migeon, G. (1903). Exposition des Arts Musulmans (Catalogue Descriptif). Paris: Société française d'Imprimerie et de librairie.

    Mumford, J. K. (1901). Oriental Rugs. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.

    Neugebauer, R., & Orendi, J. (1909). Handbuch der orientalischen Teppichkunde. Leipzig: Karl W. Hiersemann.

    Parham, C. (2020). Carpet and Carpet Weaving in Iran. Tehran: The Center for the Great Islamic Encyclopaedia. [In Persian]

    Pope, A. U., & Nilsen Laurvik, J., &Meyer Riefstahl, R., & Ackerman, Ph. (1917). Catalogue Mrs. Phoebe A. Hearst Loan Collection. San Francisco: The San Francisco Art Association.

    Pope, A. U. Ackerman, P.  (1938-1939). A Survey of Persian Art from Prehistoric Times to the Present, six volumes published under the auspices of the American Institute for Iranian Art and Archaeology, London & New York: Oxford University Press.

    Pope, A. U. (1926). Catalogue of A Loan Exhibition of Early Oriental Carpets from Persia, Asia Minor, The Caucasus, Egypt and Spain. Chicago: The art Club of Chicago.

    Pushman, B. (1902). Art Panels from the Handlooms of the Far Orient, as See by Native Rug Weavers. Chicago: Pushman Brothers.

    Pünter, V. C. M. (1917). Der orient-teppich in geschichte, kunstgewerbe und handel: studien an hand der sammlung C. Meyer-Muller in Zurich. Zurich: Paul Bender.

    Rofegar Hagh, R. (2022). An Introduction to Iranian Carpet Stylistics. Tehran: Babr Publications. [In Persian]

    Riegl, A. (1895). Ein orientalischer Teppich vom Jahre 1202 n. Chr. und die ältesten orientalischen Teppiche. Berlin: Verlag von Georg Siemens.

    Ripley, M. Ch. (1904). The Oriental Rug Book. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company.

    Rokni, M. A. & Yashkovsky, S. A. (2015). Iran and Poland Relations during The Safavid Period. Historical Sciences Studies, 6(2): 79-98. Doi:10.22059/jhss.2015.56613.  [In Persian]

    Roxburgh, D. J. (2000). Au Bonheur des Amateurs: Collecting and Exhibiting Islamic Art, ca. 1880-1910.Ars Orientalis, Vol. 30, 9-39. Doi: 10.2307/4434260

    Roxburgh, D. J. (2010). After Munich: Reflections on Recent Exhibitions. In Andrea Lermer & Avinoam Shalem, After One Hundred Years: The 1910 Exhibition “Meisterwerke muhammedanischer Kunst”. Leiden and Boston: Brill Publishers.

    Shadlou, Davood, & Shirazi Ali Asghar. (2018). The orientalists’ approaches in historiography of the Iranian carpet between 1850 and 1950, and, finding their faults. Goljaam, 13(32): 43-66. Dor: 20.1001.1.20082738.1396.13.32.8.8.  [In Persian]

    Shadlou, D., & Rafiei, S. (2023). The Analysis of the Role of Specialized Islamic Art Exhibitionsin the Recognition and Categorization of Safavid Carpets in the Western Academies (1900-1910). Honar-haye Sena’ee-ye Iran, 6(1): 43-73. Doi: 10.22052/hsi.2023.248461.1066. [In Persian]

    Troelenberg, E. M.  (2012). Regarding the Exhibition: The Munich Exhibition Masterpieces of Muhammadan Art (1910) and its Scholarly Position. Journal of Art Historiography, Vol. 6, 1-34.

    Valentiner, W.  R. (1910). Catalogue of a Loan Exhibition of Early Oriental Rugs. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

    Von Bode, W. (1902). Vorderasiatische knüpfteppiche aus älterer zeit. Leipzig: Von Herman Seemann Nachfolger.

    Sarre, F., & Martin, F. R. (1912). Die Ausstellung Von Meisterwerken Muhammedanischer Kunst in München 1910. München: F. Bruckmann.

    Zarezadeh, Fahimeh, Seyed Mostafa Mokhtabad Amreie, and Zahra Rahbarnia. 2015. Rereading Art and Politics in International Expos (Case Study: Crystal Palace Exhibition, London, Great Britain, 1851). Bagh-e Nazar. 12(33): Pages 81-90. [In Persian]

    URL 1: https://collections.louvre.fr/en/ark:/53355/cl010330920

    URL 2: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Raphael-Italian-painter-and-architect

    URL 3: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Abbas-I-Safavid-shah-of-Persia

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics