‘Polonaise Carpet’

anonymous, c. 1600 - c. 1625

This kind of costly silk carpet with gold- and silverwrapped thread was woven in the imperial workshops in Isfahan, Iran. In 1602 King Sigismund III Vasa of Poland ordered several of them for his daughter’s wedding. This explains why they are called ‘Polonaise’ carpets. This may be one of the carpets made on commission for Sigismund.

  • Artwork typetapijt
  • Object numberBK-17274
  • Dimensionsheight 225 cm x width 140 cm
  • Physical characteristicssilk, silver- and gold-wrapped thread, cotton

Identification

  • Title(s)

    ‘Polonaise Carpet’

  • Object type

  • Object number

    BK-17274

  • Description

    Tapijt, een zogenaamd Polentapijt, geknoopt van zijde en gebrocheerd met goud- en zilverdraad. Dunne banden verdelen het middenveld van dit tapijt in catouches. Versieringen van ranken met bladmotieven, lotusbloemen, rozetten afgewisseld met wolkenbanden. Brede versierde rand.

Creation

  • Creation

    maker: anonymous, Isfahan

  • Dating

    c. 1600 - c. 1625

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Material and technique

  • Physical description

    silk, silver- and gold-wrapped thread, cotton

  • Dimensions

    height 225 cm x width 140 cm

Acquisition and rights

  • Copyright

    Public domain

  • Provenance

    …; on loan from the Wittelsbach collection to the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich, 1905-18;{Bayerisches Nationalmuseum Archive, Civiliste, Fol. 152, no. 33, inv. no. T 1596.} transferred to the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich; from whom, 16,500 RM, to the dealer A. S. Drey, 1930;{Bayerisches Nationalmuseum Archive, Dokument 1158, Verzeichnis über die Verkaufserlöse von den im Rechnungsjahre 1930 abgegebenen Sammlungsgegenstände.}…; purchased from the estate of Dr. Fritz Mannheimer (1890-1939), Amsterdam and Paris, en bloc, by the Dienststelle Mühlmann, The Hague, for Adolf Hitler's Führermuseum, Linz, 1940;{Korthals Altes 1974, pp. 21-22.} war recuperation, SNK, 1945;{HNA, SNK Archive, 2.08.42, inv. no. 548.} on loan, with 1,702 other objects, from the DRVK to the museum, 1952;{Note RMA.} transferred to the museum, 1960

  • Remarks

    Please note that this provenance was formulated with a special focus on provenance research for the years 1933-45 and could therefore be incomplete. There may be more (mostly earlier) provenance information known in the museum. In case this item has an uncertain or incomplete provenance for the years 1933-45, the Rijksmuseum welcomes information and assistance in the investigation and clarification of the provenance of all works during that era.

Documentation

    • Cat.tent. Tentoonstelling oosterse tapijten, Delft (Stedelijk Museum Het Prinsenhof), 1948/49, nr. 24.
    • Cat.tent. Tafelwerk zur Ausstellung orientalischer Teppiche, Wien, London, Paris, 1892, Taf. LXIV, Abb. 82.

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