Vadas József (szerk.): Ars Decorativa 13. (Budapest, 1993)
BATÁRI Ferenc: Az Iparművészeti Múzeum két aprómintás "Holbein"-szőnyege
The two small pattern "Holbein" carpets of the Museum, which represent probably the most impressive group of Anatolian carpetmaking, arc well-known in the close circle of experts due to various exhibitions in Hungary and abroad. However, their thorough scientific treatment has not been completed yet. A similar carpet can be seen, for example, on the portrait of Georg Gisze, painted by Hans Holbein Jr. in 1532, hence the name of this type. The pattern arrangement of the Holbein carpets is a close relative of that of the Central Asian Turkoman carpets, which consist of rows of medallions i.e. "göls" (see pict. 4). The composition of the "Holbein-pattern" is based on an over-all repetition of motifs in a square network, with few variations only. The squares of cut corners are filled with star medallions, enclosed by ribbon plaits. The intersections are decorated with four-lobed arabesque rosettes, similar to the "giil" motifs that accompany the "göls" on a Turkoman carpet. Joining at the four lobes, the rosettes create an uninterrupted network. Such a network of arabesques is the basis, or starting point of another typical Anatolian carpet decoration, the "Lorenzo Lotto pattern", which has a yellow arabesque network over a red background. Carpet I. of the two presented here has a red central field of 5 x 2 "Holbein göls", with a network of blue rosettes enclosing them (see pirt.1). The main stripe of the border is decorated with a plait of stylized kufic characters, symmetrical to the longitudinal axis, flanked by two S-shapcd bands of plaits on the sides. The bluish-green field of carpet II. is filled with /three incomplete / incomplete - complete incomplete/ incomplete - complete incomplete/ three incomplete göls in four rows. The göls are accompanied by 3 x 2 arabesque rosettes ("giils") in between. The white border is enframed by a narrow S-band of plaits, and decorated with alternating motifs of hooked eight-pointed stars and stylized X-palmets (see pict.2). According to evidence from western paintings, small pattern "Holbein" carpets were in fashion in Europe between 1450 and 1550. John Mills collected 47 illustrations of this type 11 , and proved that the earliest illustration of a Holbein carpet known so far comes from 1451, on the "San Sigismondo e il Malatesta" fresco by Piero dclla Francesca 12 , in Rimini. Fifteen of the illustrations were made in the second half of the fifteenth century, whereas the majority, 21 were from the first half of the sixteenth. There were again two made in the second half of the sixteenth century. The early illustrations can be completed with an example from the Budapest Museum of Fine Arts: on Jacopo Valenza's /?/ /known: 1485-1509/ painting of Madonna and Child he depicts the child resting on a cushion, which is laid on a small pattern "Holbein" carpet, with a decoration similar to carpet I. presented here 13 (sec pict.3). The small pattern "Holbein" carpets in public or private collections were collected by Charles Grant Ellis with respectable meticulousity 14 . 11 out of the 70 complete or fragmentary pieces can now be found in the Kcir Collection in London; the two Islamic collections in Berlin have altogether seven. There are 4 in the Wher collection in Switzerland, while the Textile Museum of Washington D.C., the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Mcdgycs Evangelist Church in Transylvania have. 3 carpets. The "Holbein" pattern of these carpets, i.e. the "göl" motifs on them hardly show i.e. difference, except for the use of colours. On the basis of the canonical arrangement of the "göls" and analogies found on
