Mystical Moghals at the DeYoung

Currently, the de Young in San Francisco has a truly fascinating textile show in their textile gallery. The de Young has a staggering permanent collection of textiles squirreled away in it’s cupboards and vaults. Occasionally, these relics are dusted off and shown. Remember the recent (and wonderful!) kilim exhibit? But many of the thousands of textiles never see the light of day.

Well, currently the textile team at the de Young selected a truly eclectic and broad range of textiles from it’s permanent collection to display. Check on the “From Exotic to Mystical” show that will be on display until August this year.

Amongst the various treasures, I was overjoyed to seeing these mind-blowing Moghal carpet fragments. I had only seen photos of fragments from this rug.

Quoting from the description on these fragments, the rug is a court carpet and dates to the reign of Akbar in the 16th century who took the throne at the ripe age of thirteen. “The designer appears to to have been an elite artist with knowledge of Mughal court painting, European botanicals, and traditional palmetto carpets–and with wit to appease a young emperor captivated by mythological heroes, demons, beasts and battles.”

If you are in San Francisco, go check out this compelling show! Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy these photographs! regards, Chris