Flowers underfoot : Indian carpets of the Mughal era /

There are about 500 "classical" Mughal carpets dating to the period from the late 16th to the 18th century and from the rule of Akbar to that of Aurangzeb. Forty-five are discussed in this publication, which also served as the catalog for a recent exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum. The introduction is followed by essays on Mughal culture, history, international trade (evidenced by the carpets in Japanese collections), technical aspects, stylistic considerations, and catalog entries. (Other books on carpet craft have examined animal fibers and dyes.) Carpet weaving before the rule of Akbar is undocumented; he founded the craft when he imported Persian weavers into India. Thus, Persian designs were absorbed and adapted to the Indian taste. The apogee of the craft came under the rule of Jahangir and Shah Jahan. Walker compares these carpets to other Mughal media for dating purposes. Most of the carpets discussed are attributed to Northern India (Lahore or Kashmir), or the Deccan plateau. At one time, the carpet craft was not acknowledged as an art form, but surely the lustrous Pashmina (Himalayan goat wool) carpets with knot counts as high as 2,000 per square inch attest to the refinement, taste, and high quality of these sumptuous weavings. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals. C. Kane; formerly, New York School of Interior Design