(Bottom left, middle, and right)
Three carpet fragments; hand-knotted woollen pile on silk warp and weft;
Indian (Mughal);
c. 17th century.

Three carpet fragments; hand-knotted woollen pile on silk warp and weft; three fragments of carpet with a design of trees with small leaves, floral motifs and scroll cloud shapes; in light and dark green,orange, white and pink on a red ground; smaller fragment of carpet has a border with a repeating pattern of s-shapes running on either side single flower heads in red and white on a light green ground.

The tree design is an unusual one amongst 17th-century Mughal carpets, which usually concentrate on floral motifs. The dense, velvety pile of these carpet fragments has been achieved by using pashmina, the fine hair of the Kashmir shawl goat, rather than sheep's wool, which gives a much coarser knot. Pashmina was used for only the highest quality carptets, and silk was never used for this purpose in Mughal India. These fragments are from a carpet of which the major part is in the Frick Collection, New York.

33-1889
T.148B-1958
T.148C-1958
T.148D-1958