In the interests of not overdoing any one craft for the next few months -- the recent episode of repetitive-stress strain took me by surprise, I must admit -- I'm giving myself a free pass on multiple projects while we're homebound. We are all still well, but I'm sure that not being bored will help at least a little with not getting on each other's nerves!
Emily's Mudjar carpet from Frank Cooper's book -- Oriental Carpets in Miniature -- drew me back to my shortlist of Cooper's charts, and realizing that I have only a smallish piece of gauze left, I decided on the Kurdistan prayer rug. Here is the original of Cooper's miniature, from the late 18th-early 19th century, in the McMullan Collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (accession no.1970.302.8) --
The Met writes, "This tapestry-woven prayer rug is an example of the fine production of Sanandaj, a center in the province of Kurdistan in northwestern Iran. The tapestry technique (kilim) makes it lighter and more fragile than a knotted pile rug, and such objects were often used as decorative wall hangings. The change of colors in the densely patterned rows of flowers enlivens the otherwise simple composition of an arched mihrab, or prayer niche, filled with flowers within and outside the niche."
The original rug is 64 1/2 in. long by 48 1/4 in. long (163.8 x 122.5cm), so that working it on 40-count gauze will come pretty close, at 5.5 x 4 in. (14 x 10cm), to 1:12 scale. I actually like Cooper's colors better, so in addition to thinking that he did an admirable job of scaling down the design, I'm happy with his choices of colors, as well! My translation of Cooper's Paternayan wool colors into DMC floss went a little further in the direction of cool dark blues and garnet than the warmer buff and orange-reds of the original, but that's okay too. This one has been high on my list since I got the book some years ago, so I'm looking forward to it!
I am cross eyed just looking at it - could never work it. Good luck!
Posted by: Toffeeapple | March 25, 2020 at 12:29 PM