| 
| 
| IMAGE DETAILS
|
| 
|
| Esfahan carpet, central Persia, 17th century. Lot 203, estimate $15-25, 000
|
| 
|
| | Click to enlarge
|
|
|
|
11 November 2009
Christie’s Rockefeller Center sale on 24 November 2009, ‘500 Years: Decorative Arts of Europe’ will present the largest group of classical ‘Esfahan’ carpets to appear on the auction market in our memory (a dozen red-ground, one camel-ground, and a silk ‘Polonaise’).
The lots on offer act as a fairly comprehensive survey of Persian workshop carpets from the 17th century, as the numerous styles and sizes represent most of the various types Iran had to offer to the international market of the day.
The bulk of the consignment was formerly in the collection of Senator William A. Clark (1839-1929), a colourful character who, after an eventful career in mining, banking and other industries, eventually made his fortune in copper, becoming known one of the ‘Copper Kings’ of Butte, Montana. His long-standing dream of becoming a US Senator caused a scandal in 1899 when it was revealed that he had bribed members of the Montana State Legislature to vote for him. The Senate refused to seat him, but after a later campaign he served a single, undistinguished term. A major buyer of art and antiques on the New York and international art markets, Clark died at the age of 86 in his mansion on Fifth Avenue in New York City, one of the richest Americans of his generation. After his death, the bulk of the collection of art and fine furnishings, including many oriental carpets from his New York mansion (see HALI 127, p.41) was bequeathed to The Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., who are now deacquisitioning many, but not all, of the Senator’s carpets.
Interestingly, among the Clark/Corcoran ‘Esfahan’ carpets are several with a documented 17th or 18th century Portuguese provenance. Recent original archival research, due for publication early in 2010, offers a plausible chronology for the production and export of such carpets, and also suggests that, in Portugal at least, many of them were said to come from the central Persian weaving centre of Yazd (Jessica Hallet ‘From the Looms of Yazd and Isfahan’, in Carpets and Textiles in the Iranian World 1400-1700, Oxford and Genoa, forthcoming).
Click here for a pdf of the carpets on offer.
|
;)
;)
