Fragment of a Floorspread

Unknown

late 17th century · Cotton; plain weave, mordant-painted and dyed, resist-dyed · Islamic Art

On this fragment from what was once a magnificent floorspread, later cut and hemmed for a different purpose, stately rows of poppies line the central field. Like several Mughal-period pile carpets, the main motif changes direction in some areas; here, alternate poppy plants appear upside down in the top row. The spread was made through the laborious dyeing process known as kalamkari; remarkably, the usually fugitive green is very well preserved. In this process, green was achieved by painting a yellow dye over areas already tinted with indigo, but the yellow often faded, leaving only the undercoat of blue on historic kalamkaris.

Artist

Unknown

Date

late 17th century

Medium

Cotton; plain weave, mordant-painted and dyed, resist-dyed

Department

Islamic Art

Credit line

The Alice and Nasli Heeramaneck Collection, Gift of Alice Heeramaneck, 1982