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Pictorial carpet
Pictorial carpet

Pictorial carpet

about 1590–1600
Object PlaceLahore, Northern India
Medium/TechniqueCotton warp and weft with wool knotted pile
Dimensions243 x 155 cm (95 11/16 x 61 in.)
Credit LineGift of Mrs. Frederick L. Ames, in the name of Frederick L. Ames
Accession number93.1480
On View
Not on view
ClassificationsTextiles
ProvenanceJuly, 1882, Durlacher and Marks, London [see note 1]. About 1882, with Torrey, Bright and Capen, Boston [see note 2]; sold by Torrey, Bright, and Capen to Frederick Lothrop Ames (b. 1835 - d. 1893), Boston; by inheritance to his widow, Rebecca Blair (Mrs. Frederick Lothrop) Ames (b. 1838 - d. 1905), Boston; 1893, gift of Mrs. Frederick L. Ames to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 19, 1893)

NOTES:
[1] In July, 1882, William Morris and the architect H. H. Richardson examined the carpet at Durlacher and Marks, London. It has been suggested that Richardson was puchasing objects of decorative arts for his clients in the United States; members of the Ames family, including Frederick Lothrop Ames, were clients of Richardson's. See James F. O'Gorman, ed., "On vacation with H. H. Richardson," Archives of American Art Journal 19, no. 1 (1979), pp. 2-14. Whether Richardson in fact played a direct role in bringing the carpet to this country is not known.

[2] According to information provided by Mr. Torrey (Torrey, Bright and Capen) to the MFA, his firm sold the carpet to Mr. Ames, possibly in 1882.