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Arabesque Mamluk Carpets Mix Perfect Art With Perfect Mystery
Friday, June 20, 2008
CAIRO -- Are Mamluk carpets the most mysterious rugs of all? There are
many reasons to think so. The rugs were created during the reign of the Mamluk
sultans in Cairo from 1250 to 1517 at a time when medieval Islamic art was at
its pinnacle in Egypt. And it is clear that the sultans spared no expense -- from
the painstaking weaving of the rugs’ mosaic-like designs to their saturated
colors and their superb wool.
But no-one is sure exactly where these masterpiece workshop rugs were
woven. Some carpets experts say Egypt, some Spain, some Turkey. One of the
reasons for considering so many places is that the rugs appeared under the
Mamluks as if out of thin air. Elisabeth Greenberg observes in her article
‘Jewelled Carpets: Treasures of the Mamluk Empire’ that “prior to these rugs
there was no pile-rug weaving tradition in Egypt.”
Examining the rugs for clues just offers more riddles. Their lustrous wool is
unlike that used in other Egyptian textiles of the time, but doesn’t clearly come
from somewhere else. The wool is spun clockwise, when most carpet wools
are spun counterclockwise. And, the red dye is obtained from lac – an Indian
insect – at a time when master weavers in Turkey and Iran were using entirely
different pigments. That leaves only the carpets’ designs as a guide. These, at
least, are consistent with other artworks created under the Mamluks.
Thus many experts conclude that the carpets must have been woven in
Cairo under the close supervision of the Mamluk court. As to who the Mamluks
were, their story is no less extraordinary. Although they ruled Egypt and Syria,
they originally came to the Mideast as slave-solders from Central Asia and the
Caucasus. Arab rulers purchased or recruited them as youths from Turkic,
Mongol, and Circassian tribes in Central Asia and trained them as elite palace
troops.
But the Mamluks revolted and seized power for themselves. And still more
surprisingly -- despite a warrior ethos so competitive that, on the average, the
Mamluks killed or removed their own leaders every five years – they were huge
patrons of art. When the Mamluk empire fell to the Ottomons in 1517, their
distinctive carpets disappeared with them.
Today, only one remains in Cairo and the rest of the some 100 or so pieces
that survive are the prizes of a handful of top world museums. The images
above are of a rug in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. Museums rarely
display their centuries-old Mamluks for fear they will be damaged by too much
exposure to light. But when the rugs are shown, they always amaze viewers --
just as their designers intended.
The Mamluk’s complex Arabesque patterns evoke the harmony and infinity
of the divine. Astonishingly, they do so with patterns that appear both perfectly
mathematical and perfectly mystical at the same time. And the carpets literally
shimmer before the eyes, making a them appear as much like a vision of a rug
as a reality. Small surprise, then, that some carpet producers today are
interested in trying to recreate the Mamluks in whole or part. Woven Legends, a
Philadephia-based company, has for several years worked with Turkish
weavers to try to duplicate some of the Mamluk Rugs in the Philadelphia
Museum of Art.
The results – Woven Legends’ ‘Sardis’ line – have won critical acclaim. The
retail price is $ 968 per square meter and the rugs come in a variety of sizes and
patterns. The original Mamluk weavers not only produced the complex
geometric medallion carpets they are most famous for but also full-field rugs as
well.
The full-field designs are best exemplified by the so-called para-mamluks
produced in Damascus. The rugs are often referred to ‘chessboard’ carpets in
Europe and are highly coveted collectors’ items. Today, the chessboard
designs, too, are inspiring some carpet producers to explore new possibilities.
This rug is produced by Afghan weavers, who are among the most innovative
designers for the popular market today. Simply called 'Mamluk' , it is offered by
Nomad Rugs of San Francisco and has an Arabesque field with cartouche
borders – both staples of Mamluk design. At a price of $ 488 per square meter,
it can only hint at the charms of more complex chessboard patterns. But that
may be just where many first-time rug explorers would want to begin.
Friday, June 20, 2008
CAIRO -- Are Mamluk carpets the most mysterious rugs of all? There are
many reasons to think so. The rugs were created during the reign of the Mamluk
sultans in Cairo from 1250 to 1517 at a time when medieval Islamic art was at
its pinnacle in Egypt. And it is clear that the sultans spared no expense -- from
the painstaking weaving of the rugs’ mosaic-like designs to their saturated
colors and their superb wool.
But no-one is sure exactly where these masterpiece workshop rugs were
woven. Some carpets experts say Egypt, some Spain, some Turkey. One of the
reasons for considering so many places is that the rugs appeared under the
Mamluks as if out of thin air. Elisabeth Greenberg observes in her article
‘Jewelled Carpets: Treasures of the Mamluk Empire’ that “prior to these rugs
there was no pile-rug weaving tradition in Egypt.”
Examining the rugs for clues just offers more riddles. Their lustrous wool is
unlike that used in other Egyptian textiles of the time, but doesn’t clearly come
from somewhere else. The wool is spun clockwise, when most carpet wools
are spun counterclockwise. And, the red dye is obtained from lac – an Indian
insect – at a time when master weavers in Turkey and Iran were using entirely
different pigments. That leaves only the carpets’ designs as a guide. These, at
least, are consistent with other artworks created under the Mamluks.
Thus many experts conclude that the carpets must have been woven in
Cairo under the close supervision of the Mamluk court. As to who the Mamluks
were, their story is no less extraordinary. Although they ruled Egypt and Syria,
they originally came to the Mideast as slave-solders from Central Asia and the
Caucasus. Arab rulers purchased or recruited them as youths from Turkic,
Mongol, and Circassian tribes in Central Asia and trained them as elite palace
troops.
But the Mamluks revolted and seized power for themselves. And still more
surprisingly -- despite a warrior ethos so competitive that, on the average, the
Mamluks killed or removed their own leaders every five years – they were huge
patrons of art. When the Mamluk empire fell to the Ottomons in 1517, their
distinctive carpets disappeared with them.
Today, only one remains in Cairo and the rest of the some 100 or so pieces
that survive are the prizes of a handful of top world museums. The images
above are of a rug in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. Museums rarely
display their centuries-old Mamluks for fear they will be damaged by too much
exposure to light. But when the rugs are shown, they always amaze viewers --
just as their designers intended.
The Mamluk’s complex Arabesque patterns evoke the harmony and infinity
of the divine. Astonishingly, they do so with patterns that appear both perfectly
mathematical and perfectly mystical at the same time. And the carpets literally
shimmer before the eyes, making a them appear as much like a vision of a rug
as a reality. Small surprise, then, that some carpet producers today are
interested in trying to recreate the Mamluks in whole or part. Woven Legends, a
Philadephia-based company, has for several years worked with Turkish
weavers to try to duplicate some of the Mamluk Rugs in the Philadelphia
Museum of Art.
The results – Woven Legends’ ‘Sardis’ line – have won critical acclaim. The
retail price is $ 968 per square meter and the rugs come in a variety of sizes and
patterns. The original Mamluk weavers not only produced the complex
geometric medallion carpets they are most famous for but also full-field rugs as
well.
The full-field designs are best exemplified by the so-called para-mamluks
produced in Damascus. The rugs are often referred to ‘chessboard’ carpets in
Europe and are highly coveted collectors’ items. Today, the chessboard
designs, too, are inspiring some carpet producers to explore new possibilities.
This rug is produced by Afghan weavers, who are among the most innovative
designers for the popular market today. Simply called 'Mamluk' , it is offered by
Nomad Rugs of San Francisco and has an Arabesque field with cartouche
borders – both staples of Mamluk design. At a price of $ 488 per square meter,
it can only hint at the charms of more complex chessboard patterns. But that
may be just where many first-time rug explorers would want to begin.
