In the fifteenth century the carpet manufacturers of the Mamluk Dynasty in Egypt created a distinctive type of carpet of high artistic quality. Even European rulers and nobles seem to have placed orders, for Mamluk carpets were considered priceless and exotic and gave the owner a look of dignity and wealth.

The Museum für Angewandte Kunst owns five Mamluk carpets which originally were in the possession of the Hapsburgs. After the collapse of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire the carpets were transferred to the “Östererichisches Museum für Kunst und Industrie” and after its dissolution they came to the present location.

The carpet shown here here forms part of this group but it is the only one made of silk and altogether it is worldwide the only existing Mamluk carpet made of silk. Because of its material, extraordinary design and technically advanced quality this carpet is a highlight of the Viennese collection and generally regarded as one of the most beautiful and important carpets which exist. Its design is symmetrical with a huge eight-pointed star in the centre, surrounded by a kaleidoscope of smaller geometrical figures. Vegetal elements consisting primarily of lanceolate and umbrella-like leaves fill the geometrical structure and thus a design full of tension emerges. The meticulous design, the colour contrast between cherry-red, light blue and yellow-green as well as the lustre of the silk pile produce the shimmering surface which gave rise to the fame of this carpet.
From the technical point of view , a characteristic feature of Mamluk carpets is the “Persian” knot. The thread is wrapped around two adjoining warps at a time and the loose ends of the thread are made to stick out in between them. In this way the knots are distributed more regularly. The knot density usually amounts to between 140,000 – 150,000 knots. The silk Mamluk carpet has 310,000 knots which testifies to its extraordinarily refined carpet technology.
 

Based on German text by Dorothea Berndsen

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