CONTENTS ISSUE 153 AUTUMN 2007

44HIS HIGHNESS THE AGA KHAN PRINCE KARIM AL HUSSEINI ON COLLECTING ISLAMIC ART

102LUMINA ET UMBRA: THE BARK CLOTH OF THE MBUTI

135A WHOLE NEW WORLD PRE-COLUMBIAN TEXTILES IN PARIS

FRONTLINES

LETTERS All things Turkic: this year’s ICOCXI and LAMA’s new purchases

23

NEWS The Textile Museum’s expansion; sad farewell to Mac Anderson and Peter Lyman 25 ENEWS A summary of the best on www.hali.com and the rest of the web 27 FRAGMENTS Asian Art in London, Volkmanntreffen 2007, Turkish carpet show in Budapest 29 POSTCARD Michael Franses delves into The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg 36 PROFILE His Highness the Aga Khan Prince Karim Al Husseini and his work 44 FROM THE ARCHIVE From Tehran and Hamadan: Arthur Cecil Edwards’ unpublished letters 50 FORUM Who were the weavers of this group of asymmetrically knotted ‘Yomut’ ensis? 61 MASTERPIECE The tale behind an Afsharid figural silk from the V&A, London 64

FEATURES

SUN WORSHIP

A Libyan PlangiTextile

ANNETTE KOROLNIK-ANDERSCH & MARCEL KOROLNIK

The significance of a North African textile from the authors’ collection

67

LOST & FOUND

The Missing History of Persian Carpets

68

HADI MAKTABI

A re-examining of Iranian carpet weaving in the 18th and 19th centuries uncovers a 150 year

gap in knowledge, to make sense of the development in Persian rug design

JIASHA

Chinese Buddhist Monks’ Robes

80

ALAN KENNEDY

Essential to Buddhist monastic practice, monks’ robes are given the attention that they deserve

ROLE REVERSAL

88

KATE FITZ GIBBON & ANDREW HALE

Inspired by three suzanis from important worldwide collections, the authors reconsider the role

of women embroiderers in 19th century Shahrisyabz

A CONNOISSEUR AND A GENTLEMAN

Jules Maciet & The Muséée des Arts Decoratifs

92

SUSAN DAY

Philanthropist and collector, Jules Maciet played a vital role in establishing the carpet collection of the

Muséée des Arts Decoratifs, Paris. The museum’s current exhibition ‘Purs Decors?’ pays hommage

LUMINA ET UMBRA

Magic in the Forest. Mbuti Pygmy Bark Cloths

102

CATHRYN M.COOTNER

An introduction into the wonderful world of Mbuti pygmy bark cloth by the former Curator of Textiles

at San Francisco’s de Young Museum

SUPERLATIVE SPECTACLE

Tapestry in the Baroque

ELIZABETH CLELAND

Superb tapestries from the forthcoming exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

112

CONTEXT

EXHIBITIONS Ancient Peru at Galerie Chevalier, Paris, George Hewitt Myers at the TM 135 CALENDAR Auctions, exhibitions, fairs and conferences worldwide 142 AUCTIONPRICEGUIDE Summer sales in New York and London 149 BOOKS Dragons of Silk, Flowers of Goldfrom the Abegg-Stiftung, David Sorgato’s Baluch 160 PARTING SHOTS More from Istanbul, San Francisco faces, the Santa Fe shows 171 FIRST VIEW One of only thirty known Toraja Paporitonoling 174

HALI ISSUE 1535