A Safavid Isfahan Carpet, Central Persia, 17th Century

Sir Frederick Leighton (1830-1896), London;

William A. Clark (1839-1925), New York and Montana;

Bequeathed to the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.;

Important Carpets from the William A. Clark Collection, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Sotheby’s, New York, 5 June 2013, lot 20;

Where acquired by the present collector.

The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Illustrated Handbook of The W. A. Clark Collection, The Corcoran Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C.: W. F. Roberts Company, 1928, p. 73;

"Carpets for the Great Shah: The Near-Eastern Carpets from the W. A. Clark Collection," The Corcoran Gallery of Art Bulletin, Washington, D.C., Vol. 2, No. 1, October 1948, p. 13, no. P 9, unillustrated.

Sir Frederick Leighton was one of the most prominent British artists of the Victorian era and became President of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1878.  From his first trip to Northern Africa in 1857, Leighton became enamored with Islamic culture and arts. He worked closely with his friend and architect George Aitchison (1825-1910) for 30 years on his grand home in Holland Park. In 1877 they constructed the Arab Hall in this house to showcase Leighton's collection of ceramics and textiles. This carpet appears to be one of two that William A. Clark acquired from the collection of Sir Frederick Leighton, most likely at the sale of the Leighton estate at Christie's London July 8-16, 1896. The other Isfahan carpet Clark acquired from Leighton was sold Christie's New York, November 24, 2009, lot 130.