Carpet with the joined coat of arms of Alfonso V of Aragon and Maria of Castile

Not on Display

This large carpet, although missing its top end border, depicts the coat of arms of Queen Maria of Castile (right) and her husband Alfonso V, King of Aragon and Sicily (1416-1458) (left). Woven by Mudejars, or Muslims living under Christian rule, between 1416 and 1432. The Textile Museum Collection has two of only ten known Mudejar-made carpets with a Spanish coat of arms. Referred to as armorial, these carpets were woven with a single warp knot called the “Spanish” knot and have small geometric grid patterns with a variety of skillfully arranged animals, humans, and geometric motifs.
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Geography:
Spain; Alcaraz, ?
Culture:
Spanish; Andalusia
Materials:
goat hair
Collection:
The Textile Museum Collection
Accession Number:
R44.4.1
Credit Line:
Acquired by George Hewitt Myers in 1944.
Date:
1415-1458;
Copyright:
Public domain
Object Type:
Textile
Dimensions:
Structure:
knotted pile; plain weave; single-warp knot
Used in:
carpet
Style:
Spanish, armorial
Provenance:
Comtesse de Behague (Martine Marie-Pol), Paris (b. 1870-d. 1939)
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Bibliography:
Louise W. Mackie (Author), "Two Remarkable Fifteenth Century Carpets from Spain", Textile Museum Journal, Textile Museum Journal, Washington, D.C., 1977, vol. 4, no. 4, p. 22, fig. 6
Carol Bier (Author), "Legacy of Collector George Hewitt Myers", Arts of Asia, Arts of Asia, Hong Kong, 1996, vol. 26, no. 1, p. 64, fig. 17
Florence Lewis May (Author), "Hispano-Moresque Rugs", Notes Hispanic, The Hispanic Society of America, New York, NY, 1945, vol. 5, p. 30, fig. 1
Sheridan Pressey Collins (Author), "The Spanish Connection", Hali, Hali, London, England, 1988, vol. 10, no. 38, p. 43
Ita Aber (Author), "Are the Spanish Admiral Carpets Jewish?", Jewish Art, Journal of the Center for Jewish Art, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 1992, vol. 18, p. 89-90, fig. 4-5
Kurt Erdmann (Author) and Hanna Erdmann (Editor), Seven Hundred Years of Oriental Carpets, University of California Press, Los Angeles, CA, 1970, pl. 20
Donald King (Co-Author) and David Sylvester (Co-Author), The Eastern Carpet in the Western World from the 15th to the 17th Century, Art Council of Great Britain, London, England, 1983, p. 51, cat. no. 4
Rachel Bucci (Co-Editor) and Julia Neubauer (Co-Editor), "The Textile Museum Bulletin", The Textile Museum, The Textile Museum, Washington, D.C., 2003, Spring ed., cover
Murray Eiland (Editor), A World of Oriental Carpets and Textiles, International Conference on Oriental Carpets, Washington, D.C., 2003, p. 19, fig. 17
Louise W. Mackie (Author), "Native and Foreign Influences in Carpets Woven in Spain during the 15th Century", HALI, HALI Publications, London, England, 1979, vol. 2, no. 2, p. 89, fig. 3
Ernst Kühnel (Co-Author) and Louisa Bellinger (Co-Author), Catalogue of Spanish Rugs 12th Century to 19th Century., The Textile Museum, Washington, D.C., 1953, pls. 4-8
Joan S. Wessel (Editor), The Textile Museum Bulletin, The Textile Museum, Washington, D.C., 1988, Winter ed., p. 6-7
Arthur Urbane Dilley (Author), Oriental Rugs and Carpets a Comprehensive Study, J.B. Lippincott, Philadelphia and New York, 1959, pl. 67
Charles Grant Ellis (Author), "Oriental Carpets in the Philadelphia Museum of Art", Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA, 1988., p. 244
May H. Beattie (Author), "The 'Admiral' Rugs of Spain: An Analysis and Classification of their Field Design", Oriental Carpet & Textile Studies II, Carpets of the Mediterranean Countries 1400-1600, Hali Publications, London, England, 1986, p. 276, fig. 2
Valerie Berinstain (Co-Author) and Susan Day (Co-Author) and Elisabeth Floret (Co-Author) and Clothilde Galea-Blanc (Co-Author) and Odile Gelle (Co-Author) and Martine Mathias (Co-Author) and Asiyeh Ziai (Co-Author), "Great Carpets of the World", The Vendome Press, The Vendome Press, Paris, France, 1996, p. 318, fig. 314
Jean-David Jumeau-Lafond (Author), Martine de Béhague, Beaux-Livres / Livres illustrés, France, November 2022
Sumru Belger Krody (Co-Author) and Shelley Burian (Co-Author) and Lee Talbot (Co-Author) and Karthika Audinet (Contributor) and Carol M. Bier (Contributor) and Walter B. Denny (Contributor) and Barbara G. Fraser (Contributor) and David W. Fraser (Contributor) and Mariachiara Gasparini (Contributor) and Mattiebelle Gittinger (Contributor) and Louise W. Mackie (Contributor) and Ann Pollard Rowe (Contributor) and Rebecca A. T. Stevens (Contributor), Textile Treasures: Highlights from The Textile Museum Collection and the Cotsen Traces Study Collection, Hali Publications Ltd., 2025, 1 ed., 106-109
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Exhibition History:
Masterpieces in the Textile Museum, The Textile Museum, Washington DC, March 27, 1976 - September 30, 1976
Carpets of Andalusia, The Textile Museum, Washington DC, March 08, 2003 - August 10, 2003
The Eastern Carpet in the Western World from the 15th to the 17th century, Hayward Gallery, London, May 20, 1983 - July 10, 1983
Collections and Recollections: The Textile Museum at 60, The Textile Museum, Washington DC, June 03, 1985 - September 22, 1985
Stars of Spain, The Textile Museum, Washington DC, March 31, 1978 - June 30, 1978
Spanish Rugs and Textiles, The Textile Museum, Washington DC, October 12, 1963 - January 15, 1964
Intrinsic Beauty: Celebrating the Art of Textiles, The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum, Washington DC, February 22, 2025 - June 14, 2025
Spain's Carpet Heritage, February 02, 1988 - October 16, 1988
Weaving through Spanish History: 13th - 17th Centuries, The Textile Museum, Washington DC, October 22, 1972 - March 24, 1973
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