Early Fragments from Egypt

The following carpet fragments,courtesy of Gantzhorn ,span the 6th- 9th centuries and were either found in or believed from the area we refer to today as Egypt, and as such represent some of the earliest known carpet of the Islamic period.



Knotted pile, believed 6-8th cent., Metropolitan Museum of Art,
The Rogers Fund. Notice the grape clusters,and grape leaves
which seem to be quartered, in the outer border. And don't
forget the outlined quatrefoil medallions at 12, 6, and 3 o'clock.
Symmetric knotting. 111x102 cm.



The famous cut loop fragment from Fosat, 6-8th cent., The Keir Collection. Note quatrefoil in medallion of upper left corner.



Knotted pile, 7-9th cent., kermes scarlet believed indicative of
production source other than Egypt.



The Anagram carpet and artist's rendition of design. 7-9th
cent., The Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco. Is it just me
or does this remind of a Turkish animal carpet?- Dave

quote:

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Is it just me or does this remind of a Turkish animal carpet?

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Further Fragment Notes

All- Please accept my apoligies for not submitting any specifics as to structural data concerning these fragments. Gantzhorn seems long on beautiful images but rather short on structure. At any rate, I thought it important to note the term Anagram Carpet to be a moniker ascribed by Gantzhorn, as a reference to his belief that this animal simultaneously represents both a lion and ananagram for the Armenian word for jesus. He also cites the "incarnation" initials XPI from an Irish illuminated manuscript. Ok.
Gantzhorn also cites HALI 8:4 (1986),p.6 describing the image of this carpet as a "gigantic animal, possibly a schematic lion".- Dave

Further References on Fragments

All- In Oriental Carpets, Ect., the Eilands cite the work of a crertain C.J. Lamm, Carpet Fragments: The Marby Rug and Some Fragments of Carpets Found in Egypt, as source. Also, this link to an article on Cloudband discusses Egyptian fragments in some detail

Cloudband Link

All- The above mentioned link

Cloudband

Note the statement attesting to the fact that a carpet fragment ascribed to Egypt was constructed using the Spanish knot