ISSUE 138 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2005

Dedicated to the Memory of Robert Hans Pinner, 1925-2004

22 I IN MEMORIAM

Remembering the late Robert Pinner.

25 | NEWS & LETTERS

Taghi Miri; a tejedo mistake; Armenian thanks.

27 | MARKET REPORT

Rug-hunting in Paris' flea-markets.

29 | PREVIEW

Exhibitions; Matisse in London; Amish quilts.

31 | CALENDAR

Auctions, exhibitions, fairs and conferences.

33 | GALLERY

House style advertisements.

39 | BOOKS

Reviews of: Medieval Life and Leisure in the Devonshire Hunting Tapestries by Linda Woolley and Murray Eiland Ilfs Starting to Collect Antique Oriental Rugs; Titles Received.

42 j BEYOND THE

MANDARIN SQUARE Garment Badges in IIkhanid Painting Yuka Kadoi Explaining the appearance ofthe so-called Mandarin square in 14th century Iranian painting.

48 | MOUNTED IN STYLE

Saddle-Rugs ofthe Kham Horsemen Chris Buckley On visiting the Kham region of the Tibetan Plateau, the author was surprised to discover fine antique examples of Ningxia saddle-rugs used during the Litang Horse Festival.

52 | GANSU

Hans Konig A history of carpet production and design types in China's Gansu Province, a region that has been largely overshadowed by the carpets from Ningxia and Xinjiang's Tarim Basin.

81 | REVIEW

Exhibitions: Ancient Chinese carpet at the Met, NY; Mengdiexuan Collection in HK; Asian Art in London; textiles in Milan; Islamic art in Adelaide; carpets in Paris. ICOC Sydney reviews: Suzanis, ceramics and Chinese textiles; Persian rugs in Clermont-Ferrand and Tehran; Albers' textiles; Volkmann-Treffen in Traunstein, nomad rugs in Riehen: the centenary of Berlin's Islamic Art Museum. Auctions: Clayton Collection.

109 |AUCTION PRICE GUIDE

Safavid velvet at Sotheby’s London. Plus, the best of the London autumn sales.

125 | DESIGN FILE

Hadji Jalili Revivals: Jayne Sanderson profiles masterweaver Peter Collingwood.

133 | NETWORK

Classified advertisements.

136 | PARTING SHOTS

Trading in Milan, learning in Traunstein.

C O N T E N T S & EDITORIAL

Robert Pinner, co-founder of HALI and o f the International Conference on Oriental Carpets (ICOC), passed away at home in Twickenham on 20 November 2004 at the age o f 79 after a long struggle with heart disease.

Born in Hamburg in 1925, Robert came to Britain with his parents in the mid-i930S. After school in Birmingham he trained as a metallurgist at the University o f Aberystwyth in Wales, then enjoyed a successful first career in the field o f metal-finishing and scientific publishing.

I first met Robert, by then the Editor o f HALI, in early 1983. A year or so later he and Michael Franses invited me to jo in the staff o f the magazine they had started six years earlier. This was the beginning o f a close working relationship, and an equally close personal friendship.

As Editor o f HALI before he sold his interest in 1985, and latterly as our most loyal, active and enthusiastic contributor, advisor and friend, Robert was among the most prolific o f writers on oriental carpets, especially Turkmen rugs, for which he w ill be best remembered. But he was also expert on a wide range o f material encompassing the history ofthe oriental carpet and early weaving. In addition to p ioneering scholarly works such as Turkoman Studies I (1980), catalogues o f the R ickmers and Wiedersperg Collections, and countless articles, comments and captions in HALL he was a prolific contributor to ICOC and other exhibition catalogues, a competent translator from German, and the founding editor of the Oriental Carpet & Textile Studies series, created in the mid-1980s to ensure the continuing publication of scholarly material and original research, especially papers given at his other brainchild, the International Conference on Oriental Carpets, established in 1976.

Robert wasn't always the easiest o f men. On occasion he could be stubborn, irascible, argumentative and w ilfu lly blind to the obvious. But this went hand in hand with great personal kindness, consideration and generosity, a forgiving nature, 'Old World' charm, a formidable intellect and unswerving commitment to the things in which he believed.

Foremost among these was the ICOC, which he served for almost three decades as Honorary Secretary General and latterly Chairman Emeritus. Robert was almost single-handedly responsible for the ICOC's survival through his determination to inspire and encourage local committees to take up the torch every three or four years and, more importantly, through his tireless stewardship during the 'downtime' between conferences. This was almost entirely as his own personal expense, an act of individual commitment that was largely unrecognised and unrewarded.

I owe Robert much for my education in oriental carpets, and for the example and insight he offered as to how editing HALI could and should be done. As my mentor in this field he is irreplaceable. But above all else I shall miss a great friend, a real gentlemen, with whom I spoke almost daily for more than two decades. May he rest in peace. Daniel Shaffer

THE COVER

Gansu carpet, west China, 19th century or earlier. 2.10 x 3.76m (6 'n " x 12'4"). In this very handsome example of Gansu pile carpet weaving, formerly in the English trade, we see the 'medallion-and-corners' design set against the dotted field design dubbed Pulo by Hans Bidder (Carpets of Eastern Turkestan, 1964). Rugs with a ‘medallion and corners’ design comprise the second main family among Gansu patterns defined by Hans Konig in this issue. They can be further subdivided into four sub-groups, the first of which is closely linked to the first main family of all-over patterns, as can be seen here. Indeed, such carpets have a typical all-over design covering the field, in combination with a central disc medallion and four quarter medallions as the corner spandrels. Pulo carpets with a central medallion and quarter medallions are unknown among Khotan weavings and are, therefore, particular to Gansu. Courtesy The Textile Gallery, London

MALI 138 |5