The so called Portuguese Carpet was originally owned by the Imperial Habsburg family. In 1919 it came together with other carpets into the possession of the Museum für Kunst und Industrie which was later named the Museum für Angewandte Kunst. It is one of the celebrated pieces of the collection. The warp and weft of this carpet are of wool and because of its technique which uses the so called Jufti knot one has assumed that the origin of the carpet is in the region of Greater Khorasan in North-East Iran.
The carpet is framed by a broad border flanked by two narrower borders. In the middle is a medallion with alternating colours. In the corners between the border and the medallion are figural scenes, each showing two vessels with crews in European dress, four fish, a sea monster and a swimmer.
These figural scenes are unusual and gave rise to diverse speculations about origin and manufacture. One theory has it that the carpet was Persian, from Kashan and that the scenes refer to a not otherwise documented event in Persian history. European engravings, showing no specific event, were also considered, or else, an illustration of the Jonas legend. According to another theory the carpet was produced in India for the Portuguese colony in Goa, or for Portugal as such.. The scenes with the ships could possibly portray Bahadur Shah, the last ruler of Gujarat on the western coast of India, who sailed in 1537 with a Portuguese ship and drowned. One of the miniature paintings in the Akbarnama, an illustrated manuscript describing the life of the Moghul emperor Akbar, who conquered Gujarat, shows a similar illustration of this incident.
However, a possible origin of the Portuguese carpet in the north of the Indian Mughal Empire was dismissed by Steven Cohen because of the use of its special knot -- unless the technique was brought to India by carpet manufacturers from Greater Khorasan.
 
 

Based on the German text by Veronika Kochesser

Bibliography:

Bennet, Ian, Schönheit echter Orientteppiche,Bertelsmann Ratgeber Verlag, München, 1974

Bennett, Ian, Oriental Rugs- Vol. 1 Caucasian, Oriental Textile Press Ltd., Welsermühl, Wels, 1981

Bode, Wilhelm von, Vorderasiatische Knüpfteppiche aus alter Zeit, 4. Aufl., Klinkhardt & Biermann, Braunschweig, 1955

Cohen, Steven, "The A. E. D. T. A. Indian Floorspread", in Hali34, 1987, S. 8-9.

Cohen, Steven, "Safawid and Mughal Carpets", Hali 114, 2001, S. 75-85; und persönliche Auskunft  durch Mail von 5. Juni 2007.

Erdmann, Kurt, Der orientalische Knüpfteppich- Versuch einer Darstellung seiner Geschichte,Verlag Ernst Wasmuth, Tübingen, 1955

Gladis, Almut v., Islamische Teppiche und Textilien, Kestner Museum, Hannover, 1987