Issue 229 · Autumn 2026·Issues raised by the 1976 World of Islam Festival in London, fifty years on, A Rabat-based collector explains his fascination with curtains from his home city, A visit to the MAK, Vienna, prompts questions about the role of a great museum
Frieze Masters 2026: Carpets and Textiles in Regent’s Park
As Frieze London and Frieze Masters drew record international crowds to Regent’s Park, the carpets and textiles on four stands proved that some of the most rewarding discoveries, and sales, were to be found far from the headlines
B
Ben Evans
Editor, HALI
·10 min read·21 Oct 2026·
Feuille de choux tapestry, Enghien or Bruxelles, Southern Flanders 16th century. Gallery Moshe Tabibnia
For five days in October, Regent’s Park became the centre of the art world. From 14 to 18 October 2026, Frieze London and Frieze Masters drew collectors, curators and galleries from across the globe, pairing contemporary art with historical works from the secondary market. There were headline sales, such as a new painting by Michaël Borremans sold by David Zwirner for $1.5 million and Jan Brueghel the Elder’s Still Life of Flowers in a Stoneware Vase, sold by Hauser & Wirth for around £5 million. More interesting for HALI readers, however, is that Jacqueline Simcox sold four Kangxi period silk panels for over £100,000; that Prahlad Bubbar sold a Kashmir moon shawl and is negotiating on a Kashmiri mihrab panel; and that Galleria Moshe Tabibnia sold a 17th-century Kerman vase carpet.
The fairs were very busy, with 95,000 visitors from 108 countries and regions, including a record 426 institutions spanning 51 territories. Equally impressive was the global spread of the audience: attendance from India and China reportedly more than doubled year on year, while visitors from Hong Kong, Korea, the UAE and Brazil also surged. North American attendance climbed sharply, matched by growth from major European markets including Germany and France. Frieze Masters, in this its 14th edition, brought together 142 galleries from 33 countries.
Afridi, Frieze Masters 2026, with the red square carpet signed by Märta Måås-Fjetterström and Barbro Nilsson at centre. Image by Hugo Glendinning. Courtesy of Frieze
The stand of London dealer Shabaz Affridi showing three Persain rugs, a Bakhshaish runner, a northwest Persian long rug with a ikat inspired field and a Mohtashem Kashan rug amongst other objects
A brief review of the relevant stands begins with the London gallery of Shahbaz Afridi. Amid a mix of modern furniture and artworks alongside Islamic art, a specialism of his wife, Irène Momtaz, were three notable carpets. Dominating the centre of the stand was a large and very fine Shah Abbas design Agra carpet, flanked by a red square Swedish carpet signed by Märta Måås-Fjetterström and Barbro Nilsson, in a design I have not seen before, and a mid-19th-century northwest Persian carpet with a blue and white ikat design field. This exceptionally beautiful and interesting carpet seems to recall the carpet patterns seen in Zand and Qajar paintings. Interestingly, on the back of the stand was also a very fine 19th-century Beshir prayer rug.
Prahlad Bubbar, Frieze Masters 2026, with the 18th-century pashmina prayer panel (left) and the 19th-century painting of Varanasi (right). Image by Hugo Glendinning. Courtesy of Frieze
His neighbour and fellow London dealer, Jacqueline Simcox, presented Chinese silk textiles arranged chronologically from the 4th to the 19th century. This was her first stand at Frieze Masters, and she should be very happy: the stand was constantly busy, with an interesting mix of ancient and esoteric fragments alongside later, more decorative textiles. I am always drawn to the fine fluidity and strong colour contrasts of Ming period kesi, or tapestry-woven silks, a field in which, on the strength of this display, Simcox is undoubtedly the world leader. That said, the piece that interested me most was a Tang dynasty embroidered silk fragment of circa 7th–8th century, worked in split stitch. The scene depicts a senmurv, a large striped mouse hiding behind a tree and the hind leg of a powerful lion. These depictions, together with the pearl border, are reminiscent of Sogdian silks with pearl roundel medallions. Here, however, we seem to glimpse a different and perhaps older incarnation of the composition.
Ming silk kesi (tapestry) panels, 17th century. Jacqueline Simcox
Jacqueline Simcox, Frieze Masters 2026. Image by Hugo Glendinning. Courtesy of Frieze
A rare silk embroidery fragment, Central Asian or Sogdian, 7th – 8th century. Embroidery on Chinese Tang dynasty silk Textile: 31 x 42 cm. Jacqueline Simcox, London
Lastly, the stand of Galleria Moshe Tabibnia from Milan was a highlight of the whole show, and not only for those interested in carpets and textiles. The quality of the display would make many museums jealous. From the outside it was dominated by two 19th-century Agra carpets, two Ming period Chinese saddle rugs and a very subtle silk Kashgar carpet. A series of rooms within the stand, however, rewarded closer inspection, with an exceptional 16th-century Flemish large-leaf tapestry, arguably the finest of the Amber Palace Mughal shrub carpets, a Polonaise carpet, a 16th-century Cairene carpet, a contemporaneous Damascus chessboard carpet and the aforementioned 17th-century Kerman vase carpet. Ironically, the piece that made the strongest impression on me, and which many might consider the most insignificant on the stand because it was so small, was an exceptionally colourful and beautifully drawn Lotto carpet fragment. In miniature, it showed how exceptional the small details are in the best examples of this genre.
Galleria Moshe Tabibnia, Frieze Masters 2026, with a 15th-century Alcaraz and a 17th century Kerman Vase carpet the Lotto carpet fragment framed at centre and a large-leaf tapestry beyond. Image by Hugo Glendinning. Courtesy of Frieze
16th century Lotto carpet fragment. Gallery Moshe Tabibnia, Milan
