{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O125161"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O125161/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009BY1312/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2009BY1312/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2009BY1312","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2011ER1137","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O125161/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O125161","accessionNumber":"250-1906","objectType":"Carpet","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Carpet weaving in Spain developed during its Moorish occupation in the early medieval period. Inventories from the late 13th to the15th centuries show that Spanish carpets were highly prized in many European countries at a time when almost no floor coverings were being woven elsewhere in Europe. Some early examples adapted Turkish designs, but following the uniting of Spain under Catholic monarchs, at the end of the 15th century, the decorative arts turned increasingly away from Islam and towards Renaissance Europe for inspiration. This carpet provides good example of this, with its border of conventional Renaissance design, and field reminiscent of contemporary woven silk patterns.\r\n\r\nThe use of the monogram IHS (<i> Iesus Hominum Salvator </I>) and the four skulls indicate that the carpet was woven for church use, either at funerals or during Holy Week. By the period this carpet was made the stark imagery of skull and crossbones was well-established shorthand for the fragility of human life, the transitory nature of the flesh, being used on gravestones and monuments as well as in painting and textiles.","physicalDescription":"The main field is a trellis of intersecting bands, enclosing stylised floral motifs, in white on a blue ground. There is a large central panel with the sacred monogram IHS, and four smaller panels with skull and crossbones, each within a stylised wreath. The border has a scrolling pattern in yellow outlined with white, on a red ground.\r\n\r\n33 warps, 16 wefts to the inch. 270 knots per square inch.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Unknown","id":"A1848"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"wool (hair)","id":"AAT14074"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"Wool pile on wool warp and weft","categories":[{"text":"Textiles","id":"THES48885"},{"text":"Floor coverings","id":"THES48953"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"T&F","id":"THES48601"},"images":["2009BY1312","2011ER1137"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"63 (VA)","id":"THES49737"},"free":"","case":"WN","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Carpet","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Spain","id":"x29170"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""},{"place":{"text":"Cuenca","id":"x33106"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"possibly"}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1550-1600","earliest":"1550-01-01","latest":"1600-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"300","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"186","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Purchased from the dealers L Harris & Co, Conduit Street, London. Although the price was considered high, at £150, the decision was made to acquire it because of the interest of its design, and \"beautiful/fine texture\". It was described as characteristically Spanish, with its design incorporating skull and crossbones signifying use during Holy Week or funerals.\n\nHistorical significance: The use of the monogram IHS (<i> Iesus Hominum Salvator </I>) and the four skulls indicate that the carpet was woven for church use, either at funerals or during Holy Week.\r\n\r\nBy the period this carpet was made the stark imagery of skull and crossbones was well-established shorthand for the fragility of human life, the transitory nature of the flesh, being used on gravestones and monuments as well as in painting and textiles. The raw drama of this imagery fits in with the principle of arousing deep emotion in the viewer, a principle promulgated in the Council of Trent (1545-63) and adopted in countries that espoused Counter-reformation ideology.","historicalContext":"Carpet weaving in Spain developed during the Moorish colonisation of the Iberian peninsula. Inventories from the late 13th to the15th centuries show that Spanish carpets were highly prized by Europeans at a time when almost no floor coverings were being woven elsewhere in Europe. The most important weaving centre was Alcaraz, in the Province of Murcia. Turkish carpet prototypes were adapted into distinctly European forms, reaching a peak in the 15th century, and continuing into the 17th; after the Christian re-conquest of the South, those Muslim craftsmen who chose to become Christian and remain in Spain continued to produce high quality carpets. \r\nFollowing this uniting of Spain under Catholic monarchs, at the end of the 15th century, the decorative arts turned increasingly away from Islam and towards Renaissance Europe for inspiration. This carpet provides good example of this, with its border of conventional Renaissance design, and field reminiscent of contemporary woven silk patterns.","briefDescription":"Carpet with IHS and skulls, Spanish, late 16th century","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Kuhnel, Ernst, <i> Catalogue of Spanish Rugs 12th century to 19th century, Textile Museum Washington </i>, 1953"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"David Jenkins Ed., <i>The Cambridge History of Western Textiles</i>, 2003, p.617"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Sarah Sherrill, <i> Carpets and Rugs of Europe and America </i>, Abbevill Press, 1996"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Faraday, Cornelia Bateman, <i> European and American Carpet and Rugs</i>, Antique Collectors' Club, 1990, plate 27"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"A F Kendrick and C E C Tattersall, <i> Handwoven Carpets Oriental and European </i>, 1922, plate 81"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Jose Sanchez Ferrer, <i>Alfombras antiguas de la provincia de Albacete</i> (albacete, 1986)"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"skull (skeleton component)","id":"AAT191856"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["250-1906"],"accessionNumberNum":"250","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":1906,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":["2019LV1045","2019LV9702"],"recordModificationDate":"2025-11-14","recordCreationDate":"2006-06-13","availableToBook":false}}