Current Exhibition

THE ART OF THE ANATOLIAN KILIM: HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE MCCOY JONES COLLECTION

September 10, 2011 - June 10, 2012
de Young Memorial Museum , Wais and Knowles Galleries of Textile Arts

The Art of the Anatolian Kilim highlights approximately two dozen dazzling flat-woven kilims drawn from the Museums’ world-class collection of 125 such pieces acquired by Caroline and H. McCoy Jones over the course of several years. The kilims were part of an important gift initiated in 1988 and the basis for a landmark exhibition at the de Young, Anatolian Kilims: The Caroline and H. McCoy Jones Collection (1990). Major patrons to the department of textile arts, Caroline and H. McCoy Jones have donated more than 800 textile works to the Museums.

These dynamic weavings were produced between the 15th and 18th centuries by semi-nomadic and village women of Anatolia, the geographic region that constitutes much of present-day Turkey. Woven in the slit-tapestry technique, primarily from the wools of sheep, goats, or camels, the weavings obtained their rich, earthy hues from natural dyes derived from locally harvested sources with the exception of indigo (which is imported). These works are characterized by bold, abstract designs that have been translated as symbolic renderings of architectural, human, animal, and floral motifs tracing back to Neolithic times.

Kilims are not only created for personal use, but also serve as an expression of group identity, a representation of wealth, and a source of currency. Over the centuries and up to modern times, both technique and design have been passed down from generation to generation of Anatolian women. Traditionally, they were used as floor and table coverings, room dividers, door flaps, prayer rugs, and burial cloths. Many were given to local mosques to be used as floor coverings—layered one on top of another, they lent warmth and comfort. The kilim was also an important part of a bride’s dowry.

These surviving examples, in their fragmented states, show the passage of time. Although structural disintegration has interrupted the design field on some of these pieces, their colors remain deeply saturated, and their patterns simple and powerful.

Fortuny tent, 2006–2007 Inspired by photographs of Mariano Fortuny y Madrazo’s Venice studio and his installation at the1911 Exposition des Arts Décoratifs, Paris Photographed inside Palazzo Fortuny