HALI NEWSLETTER No. 486

[View this email in your browser]( Lyon & Turnbull hosts the winter 2024 edition of its ‘Islamic & Indian Art’ auction on 11 December, with previews in London from 5 December. The early-Islamic section is illustrated by a beautiful Kufic Qur’an page on vellum and a striking Fatimid necklace reflecting the extraordinary skill of rock crystal carving. The later Islamic section has a strong Ottoman presence with highlights including a calligrapher’s chest, as well as a fabulous velvet, an Iznik pottery tile and a fine tombak ewer and basin. The Indian section of the sale offers select property from Penicuik House in Midlothian, Scotland, including a rare group of Indo-Portuguese mother-of-pearl vessels and exquisite miniatures from the Stuart Cary Welch collection. Also, Rajasthani miniatures from the collection of the celebrated British author V.S. Naipaul, a group of colourful and energetic Rajput Equestrian paintings from a private collection, and a historical Gandhi relic––the Gandhi Garland. Visit the [Lyon & Turnbull]( catalogue. The Alberto Levi Gallery in Milan hosts its online exhibition ‘Mixed Media: Woven Abstractions of the Berber Women’ until 31 January 2025. Alberto Levi has curated a selection of the most significant rugs woven by Berber women for domestic purposes. The exhibition explores the intricate creation of these rugs, made using precious wools, and illustrates Berber women’s connection to their culture through the art of weaving. Image: Alberto Levi Gallery. For more details, visit the [Alberto Levi Gallery]( website. Royal Tapestry Factory in Madrid celebrates the 'II Centenary of the Cochineal in the Canary Islands' until 8 December. There are only two days left to view the current exhibition by appointment. The show explores the fascinating nature of the cochineal insect and its impact on textiles, through its production of the dye carmine. It offers the chance to learn about the curiosities of this insect and to view beautiful samples of fine wool and silks. Image: The Royal Tapestry Factory. For more information, visit the [Royal Tapestry Factory]( instagram page. William Siegal has announced his retirement from his gallery specialising in ancient objects and textiles. He says: ‘I want to sincerely thank each and every one of you, the people that have come to my galleries, met me at shows or inquired online. You have allowed me to live a life I never dreamed possible when I started selling Bedouin dresses more than fifty years ago! I have been so blessed to have lived a life in search of beauty that I could share with so many others.’ Over the next few months, The William Siegal Gallery in Santa Fe is offering all extensive pre-Columbian art, as well as Indonesian and African pieces with exceptional discounts of 30–60%. For more details, contact the [William Siegal Gallery.]( For this month’s #RugFactFriday, we turn out attention to William Morris and his relation to the arts of the Islamic world. In HALI 221, Moya Carey, in an adapted extract from Tulips and Peacocks: William Morris and Art from the Islamic World, explores Morris’ engagement with Persian carpets and his role in relation to the Victoria and Albert Museum. ‘William Morris, leading light of the Arts and Crafts movement, possessed deep familiarity with embroideries, woven velvets, silks, carpets and metalwork from Iran, Syria and Turkey. In the late 1870s, through a combination of close observation and background research, William Morris became keenly aware of the design value of carpets woven in Iran during the Safavid period (1501–1722). While study led him to praise ‘the palmy days’ of this specific dynasty, his search for a past history of carpet production was rooted in disappointment with modern carpets imported cheaply from across western Asia, as well as his own sense of professional failure. Morris was interested in materials and technique because he was researching the viability of Morris & Co. producing new knotted pile carpets for sale in Britain. ‘What Morris did not expect was the extraordinary range of complex planar pattern options that were current in 16th- and 17th-century Iranian visual culture, and exemplified by the different carpets that he managed to examine in London and Paris. These revealed to him a wealth of well-structured but fluid grid compositions, with a colourful fixed repertoire of foliate and floral elements, sometimes populated with birds, animals and even humans.’ Carey continues to say that ‘this chimed perfectly with the formal values of Morris’s own practice, and would have a visual influence on designs subsequently composed by Morris ... The South Kensington Museum (today the V&A) was founded to provide exactly this kind of vital resource, but held no such carpets in its collections until Morris began to lobby for new acquisitions through the Art Referee system, from 1882. Preserved in the V&A’s archives, these Art Referee reports show how Morris’s carpet discourse developed between 1882 and 1893, when he convincingly recommended the purchase of the Ardabil Carpet from the Safavids’ dynastic shrine, for its design ‘of singular perfection’.’ For the next month, we will explore various aspects of Morris' legacy following the opening of the 'William Morris & Art from the Islamic World' exhibition at the William Morris Gallery. [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [Website]( [LinkedIn]( Copyright © 2023 Hali Publications, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: HALI Publications 6 Sylvester Path London, Hackney E8 1EN United Kingdom Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](. This email was sent to {EMAIL} [why did I get this?]( [unsubscribe from this list]( [update subscription preferences]( Hali Publications Ltd · 6 Sylvester Path · London, England E8 1EN · United Kingdom