Museum Studies Commons^™

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 …

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 …

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 …

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, …

Dragons, Blossoms, Sunbursts: Textile Arts Of The Caucasus, Carol Bier

Textile Research Works

Rugs from the Caucasus have long been appreciated in Europe and America. Widely known for their bright colors and bold designs, Caucasian rugs have attracted collectors for nearly a century. These rugs, produced in towns and villages, reflect regional design traditions which were amalgamated from diverse sources.

Although embroideries and flatweaves (rugs without pile) from the Caucasus are less well known in the West, their designs are no less bold nor their colors less striking. Produced as a domestic art, they were destined for home use and local commerce. The richness of patterns in these textile arts is in part …

"Introduction" To Content And Context Of Visual Arts In The Islamic World: Papers From A Colloquium In Memory Of Richard Ettinghausen, Carol Bier, Priscilla P. Soucek

Textile Research Works

The edited papers presented in this memorial volume offer tribute to Richard Ettinghausen, scholar, teacher, curator and friend, a great man who affected within his own lifetime the study of Islamic art throughout the Western world. Through the high caliber of his scholarship and his discerning connoisseurship, he had a profound effect on the intellectual development of those whom he touched through his manifold activities, whether in publications, formal lectures, or an informal sharing of his knowledge. In recognition of his many achievements he received in 1976 "Pour le Merite," the highest civil decoration awarded by the Federal Republic of …

Woven From The Soul, Spun From The Heart, Carol Bier

Textile Research Works

Textiles are luxuries and necessities. They are artifacts as well as primary sources which contain a wealth of information about the society that produced them Materials and color represent products available for textile production; structure gives evidence of levels of technological achievement. Patterns illustrate belief and values, frequently offering insight into daily life. The mingling of motifs expresses a kinship of ideas. Textiles, above all, illustrate a culture's freshness and vitality, its flexibility and adaptation to change.

Meaning and Metaphor: Cultural themes occur in both Persian poetry and the textile arts. Hunting, falconry, bird-and-flower studies were popular subjects for poetry, …

The Work Of Al-Hasan B. Muhammad, Die Engraver At Isbahan And Al-Muhammadiyya, Carol Bier

Textile Research Works

Four Buyid coins in the collection of t he American Numismatic Society, struck between 358-68 H. /A.D. 968-79 at two mints in Jibal province, illustrate a phenomenon unique in the history of Islamic coinage. They concern the status of a die engraver named al-Hasan b. Muhammad. A silver dirham bearing his signature was first noted by George C. Miles and published in 1938. It was at that time the only Islamic coin known to bear the signature of a die engraver. More recently, four additional coins have been located which shed more light upon the career of this artisan. His …

The Bryas Palace Of Theophilus, Carol Bier

Textile Research Works

According to the Continuation of the chronicles of Theophanes the Bryas palace of Theophilus (829-842) was built in imitation of an Arab palace. The present inquiry into its Islamic source offers a new interpretation of the Bryas palace within the context of Middle Byzantine secular architecture and the development of court ceremonial. ::?revious studies have concentrated upon locating Bryas in efforts to determine the extent of Islamic impact on the architecture of Byzantium. The most recent attempt, put forth by Dr. Semavi Eyice, tentatively links the unexcavated ruins at KUyUkyal!, a suburb of Istanbul, with the literary description of Bryas …

Excavations At Korucutepe, Turkey. Part Ii: The Fortification Wall, Carol Bier

Textile Research Works

Excavations at Korucutepe have brought to light a fortification wall of a type common in Anatolia during the second millennium B.c. The wall had been exposed in places by bulldozing operations for a government farm. Excavation revealed a plan consisting of a curtain wall with a double stone foundation (see fig. 7). Square towers project at intervals where the direction of the wall changes. Adjacent to two of the towers is a passageway, one on the south side of the mound, one on the northeast, leading out from the city. There is no indication of any cross walls, or casemates, …