portion of rug Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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portion of rug Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
This object does not yet have a description.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1957.137
Title
Garden Carpet
Classification
Textile Arts
Work Type
rug
Date
18th century
Places
Creation Place: Middle East, Iran
Culture
Persian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/216960

Location

Location
Level 2, Room 2550, Art from Islamic Lands, The Middle East and North Africa
View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Cotton warp, wool weft and pile
Dimensions
H. 685.8 × W. 243.8 cm (270 × 96 in.)
Weight 59 lb

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Joseph V. McMullan
Accession Year
1957
Object Number
1957.137
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
This garden carpet is named after the "Four Gardens" (Chahar Bagh) design of the Islamic era gardens. It shows a wide stream of water intersected by narrower courses on the side. Fish move towards the center in the streams. The units separated by the streams represent flowerbeds. The middle stream is interrupted by plots of flowering trees and every other plot becomes a source of four flowering trees that grow in the flowerbeds. The composition as a whole abounds with flowering plants, shrubs, and trees.

Publication History

  • Joseph V. McMullan, Islamic Carpets (New York, 1965)
  • David Sylvester, Islamic Carpets from the Collection of Joseph V. McMullan, exh. cat. (Arts Council of Great Britain, London, 1972), p. 40, cat. no. 29, pl. IX
  • Daniel S. Walker, Oriental Rugs of the Hajji Babas, exh. cat., Asia Society (New York, NY, 1982), fig. 20
  • Sheila Blair, ed., Images of Paradise In Islamic Art, exh. cat., University of Tennessee Press (Austin, TX, 1991), p. 98, fig. 34
  • Stephan Wolohojian and Alvin L. Clark, Jr., Harvard Art Museum/ Handbook, ed. Stephan Wolohojian, Harvard Art Museum (Cambridge, 2008), p. 87
  • Ami Ronnberg and Kathleen Martin, ed., The Book of Symbols: Reflections on Archetypal Images, Taschen GmbH and Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism (Cologne, Germany, 2010), pp. 594-595, ill. 1.

Exhibition History

  • The Here and the Hereafter: Images of Paradise in Islamic Art, Hood Museum of Art, Hanover, 03/16/1991 - 05/26/1991; Asia Society Galleries, New York, 06/27/1991 - 09/06/1991; Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, 09/26/1991 - 12/15/1991; University Art Museum, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, 01/22/1992 - 03/29/1992; Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Springfield, 04/26/1992 - 06/21/1992
  • Earthly Paradise: Gardens in Islamic Art, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 05/08/1993 - 08/22/1993
  • Courts and Countryside: Islamic Paintings from the 14th through the 17th Century, Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 05/21/1999 - 08/22/1999
  • 32Q: 2550 Islamic, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 10/28/2024 - 10/31/2025

Subjects and Contexts

  • Google Art Project
  • Collection Highlights

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Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu