An Editorial Diary, July 1949: “Persian Carpet” – the Trinitarias Carpet, Acquired by Messrs Templeton, in Glasgow

‘AN EDITORIAL DIARY’, on page four of The Glasgow Herald, on Tuesday the 12th of July, 1949, includes:

 

“PERSIAN CARPET

 

In their half-yearly review published in the July issue of ‘The Templetonian,’ Messrs Templeton, the

carpet manufacturers refer to a new Persian design derived from a sixteenth-century Persian carpet

now in the firm’s possession.

 

This carpet is known as the Trinitarias carpet, and was the property of the Convent of the Trinitarias

Des Calzas, Madrid. Althought the earliest record of the carpet in the convent’s archives was in the

year 1699, it is traditionally reputed to have been given to the Des Calzas nuns by Philip IV of Spain

when the Trinitarias Convent was founded in Madrid in the beginning of the seventeenth century.

 

Due to the seclusion of its resting place where it remained for more than three centuries, the carpet

has failed to be listed in the literature of early Persian carpet weaving, but since it came to Britain it

has been inspected by the leading specialists in this field, and acclaimed as being one of the finest and

most important examples of sixteenth-century Persian carpet weaving in existence.

 

The carpet, which measures 34 ft. 5 in. by 11ft., was acquired by Messrs Templeton last year after its

return from the Art Gallery of Toronto, where it had been sent for safety during the war.  A smaller

reproduction of this carpet has been made by Messrs Templeton.”

 

 

As can be read at the sources listed below, the carpet now is regarded as being of Indian origin.

 

Online information includes: Walter B. Denny, ‘The Trinitarius carpet: early masterpiece or modern reproduction?’,

Art Journal, 71, 2012, pages 16 to 27, at www.wbdenny.com , and there is a reference to Templeton’s on page 21;

Omri Schwartz, “The Mystery of the Trinitarias Carpet”, November 15, 2019, at https://nazmiyalantiquerugs.com ,

and this source mentions that, after the war, the item “went into the hands of a prominent Glasgow carpet maker”;

and the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia, website: www.ngv.vic.gov.au for the collection, where the

carpet is included and illustrated. However, this site makes no mention of the Templeton connection.

 

 

George Fairfull-Smith, October 2022.