I posted this message on the old site but thought I should put it here. At the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, part of the Smithsonian in Washington DC, is an exhibit of gifts from Turkey and Iran to the Tsars, etc. of Russia in the 16th and 17th centuries. It is a beautiful exhibit and has what look to me to be wonderful examples of tablet weaving.
>From the website for the Sackler Gallery is this description: "Organized by >the Smithsonian Institution's Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in collaboration with >The Moscow Kremlin Museums, this presentation features more than sixty >exceptional objects that large embassies, diplomatic missions, and trade >delegations from Ottoman Turkey and Safavid Iran offered to the tsars of >Russia. Ranging in date from the early sixteenth to the late seventeenth >century, these lavish gifts and tributes include rarely seen arms and armor >and jeweled ceremonial vessels and regalia intended for the Russian court or >the Orthodox church. Some of the finest pieces are equestrian in nature: >stirrups with pearls, golden bridles with turquoises and rubies, and saddles >covered with velvet and silk." It is the saddle and stirrup straps as well as the horse straps which would hang down over the chest of the horse, that look to be tablet woven. I have no knowledge of historical weavings and would love if someone who knows more could take a look at these and confirm my hunch. Several of the bands or straps look to be double-faced patterns, some done in gold thread and probably very thin silk threads. The colors are mostly red and beige with the gold and the straps are decorated with lots of jewels. The gifts from the diplomats to the Russians are divided between those from Iran and those from Turkey. I saw only one band in the gifts from Iran but more in the gifts from Turkey, dating from before 1623. The tags under the items described them as braids and the whole exhibit concentrates much more on the jewels and the gold items with no word as to how the bands were made. The items in this exhibit have not been out of the Russian Kremlin museum in Moscow since they were received as gifts. The Russians immediately catalogued the items and put them into storage unless they were taken out to be used as ceremonial wear for parades or state functions. It sounds as if this exhibit is not going anywhere else. If anyone is in the DC area and has time to check out this exhibit, please take a look and share your expertise about the weaving. I would love to know if my hunch is correct. You cannot take pictures in the Sackler Gallery but they do have a book about the exhibit for sale in the gift shop. I did not look through it. Nancy Smothergill
