Art Practice Commons^™

Blanket Statements, Issue 32, Spring 1993

Blanket Statements: News Publication of the American Quilt Study Group

Blanket Statements, Issue 32, Spring 1993

Falcons And Flowers: Safavid Persian Textile Arts, Carol Bier

Textile Research Works

The Safavid period in Iran was a golden age for textile arts. It was in the 16th century that the Classical Persian carpet evolved to its fully developed form, and it was then that woven silks and velvets reached the highest technical and aesthetic standards of all time. In subsequent periods of Persian history, textiles and carpets reflect the extraordinary achievements of the Safavid era which have never been surpassed.

Under the reign of Shah Abbas I, who reigned from 1588 to 1629, Iran established important economic ties not only with the rapidly emerging European powers, but with the Mughal …

What Is An Oriental Carpet?, Carol Bier

Textile Research Works

Have you ever just stared at an Oriental carpet? Have you ever wondered what makes it so attractive, fascinating, or puzzling? Have you admired its simplicity or its intricacy? Have you ever wondered where it came from? Or, how it was made?

What is an Oriental Carpet? attempts to answer some of these questions. Conceived in response to visitors' requests for more basic information about textiles, this educational approach encourages the viewer to participate in an exploration of Oriental carpets.

Although the terms carpet and rug are often interchanged, here a carpet is defined as a fairly large pile-weaving intended …

Blanket Statements, Issue 35, Winter 1993

Blanket Statements: News Publication of the American Quilt Study Group

Blanket Statements, Issue 35, Winter 1993

Piety And Power In Early Sasanian Art, Carol Bier

Textile Research Works

Sasanian art has long been considered a royal art: An art in service of royalty. Indeed, traditions of kingship in Iran became a paradigm for kingship throughout the world (though not always recognized as such). But the significance and strength of Iranian kingship no doubt led, in part, to scholarly paradigms in which nearly all in historical Iran has been cast in the shadow of kingship. But there are other ways to look at kingship in Iran. This paper explores the representation of royal images in early Sasanian art from a religious perspective, a view perhaps eclipsed by the ever-present …

Knots And Bolts: Design And Technology In The Caucasus, Carol Bier

Textile Research Works

In the largest sense, Oriental rugs represent both the social history and manufacturing traditions of their particular cultures and are related to the human needs, economies, and ecological constraints of those societies. Each textile or fragment represents a complex set of human interactions between user and viewer, implying a social response, and between user and maker, sometimes resulting from economic transactions among buyer and seller, lender, merchant, and trader. Suppliers of raw materials and market superintendents or commissioners for fair trade and quality control may also have been involved. The quality and appearance of any given textile results from the …

Blanket Statements, Issue 30, Fall 1992

Blanket Statements: News Publication of the American Quilt Study Group

Blanket Statements, Issue 30, Fall 1992

Blanket Statements, Issue 29, Summer 1992

Blanket Statements: News Publication of the American Quilt Study Group

Blanket Statements, Issue 29, Summer 1992

Blanket Statements, Issue 28, Spring 1992

Blanket Statements: News Publication of the American Quilt Study Group

Blanket Statements, Issue 28, Spring 1992

Blanket Statements, Issue 31, Winter 1992

Blanket Statements: News Publication of the American Quilt Study Group

Blanket Statements, Issue 31, Winter 1992

Bukhara: Traditional Weavings From Pre-Soviet Central Asia, Carol Bier

Textile Research Works

In southern regions of what was the Soviet Union lie five independent republics, the populations of which are predominantly Turkic: Kazakhstan, Kirghizia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. During the course of the past fifty years, each of these areas has seen increasing industrialization as part of the centralized planning of the Soviet economy. Today, throughout the region. privatization of industry is rapidly occuring. Accompanying these new developments, and as part of the political and economic changes of the last few years, there has been an increasing awareness of ethnic identity and cultural inheritance. This may be expressed through literary and intellectual …

A Kurdish Reed Screen, Carol Bier

Textile Research Works

A unique ethnographic monument recently donated to The Textile Museum merits special attention not only for its size (twenty-five feet long and four feet high), but for its important place in the history, use, construction, and decoration of functional textiles.

Designed to enclose space in a nomadic environment. the reed screen may be considered an architectural textile destined for use within the community in which it was made. This distinguishes it from commercial products manufactured for the market, and, indeed, from most other utilitarian textiles, although it shares with carpets and kilims an obvious intent to beautify the environment for …

Elements Of Plane Symmetry In Oriental Carpets, Carol Bier

Textile Research Works

Historically, in the Islamic world from Spain to Indonesia, two-dimensional repeat patterns have served as primary means for organizing color and space. The ornamentation of architecture may involve the modifications of a two-dimensional pattern in its application to a three-dimensional surface. All of the uses of pattern, appearing as well on ceramics and metalwork, in book illumination, and textiles, rely upon the repetition of complex or simple designs to form overall repeat patterns of apparent complexity and intricacy. Yet within all the visual diversity and within the variability of regional traditions throughout the Islamic world, there is a common visual …

Blanket Statements, Issue 26, Fall 1991

Blanket Statements: News Publication of the American Quilt Study Group

Blanket Statements, Issue 26, Fall 1991

Blanket Statements, Issue 25, Summer 1991

Blanket Statements: News Publication of the American Quilt Study Group

Blanket Statements, Issue 25, Summer 1991

Blanket Statements, Issue 24, Spring 1991

Blanket Statements: News Publication of the American Quilt Study Group

Blanket Statements, Issue 24, Spring 1991

Blanket Statements, Issue 27, Winter 1991

Blanket Statements: News Publication of the American Quilt Study Group

Blanket Statements, Issue 27, Winter 1991

Beyond The Pyramids: Geometry And Design In The Carpets Of Egypt, 1450-1750, Carol Bier

Textile Research Works

Mamluk carpets present a paradox. For although they are among the most tantalizingly beautiful of all Oriental carpets, they are also the least understood. The answers to such questions as who made them, why they were made and for whom, and how they were used, are virtually unknown. These carpets, produced during the rule of the Mamluk sultans in Egypt in the late 15th century are arguably the finest ever produced anywhere. Mamluk carpets are distinguished from all other carpet-weaving traditions. In part, this distinction derives from the dominance and simplicity of geometric form (#R34.32.1): squares and rectangles, octagons and …

Basic Paper Treatments For Printed Book Materials, Peter D. Verheyen

Librarian Publications

In October of 1989, at the Guild of Book Workers' Standards of Excellence Seminar, Betsy Palmer Eldridge gave a presentation on "Basic Paper Treatments for Printed Book Materials." This 2 1/2 hour presentation was a very ambitious undertaking, but she did a magnificent job.

Since these presentations and the synopses that later appeared in the GBW Newsletter, there has been some discussion. The presentations and these articles are not to be construed as a "how to" of basic paper conservation but rather as an introduction for those with interest but little experience. For the more experienced, they present the methods …

Blanket Statements, Issue 22, Fall 1990

Blanket Statements: News Publication of the American Quilt Study Group

Blanket Statements, Issue 22, Fall 1990

Blanket Statements, Issue 21, Summer 1990

Blanket Statements: News Publication of the American Quilt Study Group

Blanket Statements, Issue 21, Summer 1990

Blanket Statements, Issue 20, Spring 1990

Blanket Statements: News Publication of the American Quilt Study Group

Blanket Statements, Issue 20, Spring 1990

Carpet Condition: A Curator's Perception Of "The Hole", Carol Bier

Textile Research Works

Twenty years ago when I set out on the course of a professional life in archaeology, I thought my future lay in ruins. Preparing this paper has given me an opportunity to review my experiences and reassess my perception of condition in general. And, specifically with respect to carpets, it has enabled me to develop a heightened sense of self-awareness and perception of "the hole." I have found upon introspective analysis two key aspects of my own training and experience that have profoundly affected my response as curator to the condition of carpets: The first is a background, prior to …

Visions Of Infinity: Design And Pattern In Oriental Carpets, Carol Bier

Textile Research Works

A fascination with color and geometric pattern is expressed in Islamic art. In many areas of the Islamic world, historically from Spain to Indonesia, twodimensional repeat patterns provide the primary means for organizing color and space. Ornamentation of architecture, ceramics, metalwork, book illumination, textiles, and Oriental carpets relies upon the repetition of complex or simple designs, creating overall surface patterns of apparent complexity and intricacy. Patterns may consist of geometric, floral, calligraphic, or figural forms. The majority of patterns in Oriental carpets consist of geometric and stylized floral designs, arranged in a system of repeats within an oblong central field …

Blanket Statements, Issue 23, Winter 1990

Blanket Statements: News Publication of the American Quilt Study Group

Blanket Statements, Issue 23, Winter 1990

Carpets And History, Carol Bier

Textile Research Works

The story of Western trade with Persia in textiles and carpets casts a fascinating light on the exciting, sometimes turbulent history of the centuries following Europe's Age of Exploration. The intense commercial and political rivalries of European mercantile expansion during the 400-year period from about 1500 to 1900 is revealed both by official historical documents - treaties, royal decrees and contracts - and by more personal ones, such as the reports of traveling merchants. Through the details of production and trade that these documents contain, we can view textiles and carpets as key commodities in the international marketplace. They played …

An Introduction To Oriental Carpets: The Arthur D. Jenkins Collection, Carol Bier

Textile Research Works

Oriental carpets have long fascinated the American public. Rich colors and attractive designs, as well as lush pile and renowned durability have given them a well-deserved reputation as beautiful and useful floor-coverings. Handmade products of far distant lands, their complicated patterns also evoke the romance of luxury and the Orient in days of yore. Yet Oriental carpets also represent both social history and manufacturing traditions related to the human needs, economy, and ecological constraints of their cultural origins.

Arthur D. Jenkins, an American collector of Oriental carpets, was intrigued by the social origins of rugs. Early in his collecting career, …

Blanket Statements, Issue 18, August 1989

Blanket Statements: News Publication of the American Quilt Study Group

Blanket Statements, Issue 18, August 1989

Blanket Statements, Issue 16, February 1989

Blanket Statements: News Publication of the American Quilt Study Group

Blanket Statements, Issue 16, February 1989

Blanket Statements, Issue 19, Winter 1989

Blanket Statements: News Publication of the American Quilt Study Group

Blanket Statements, Issue 19, Winter 1989