Pre-Islamic Carpets and Textiles from Eastern Lands

Book excerpt: “A crucial reference for anyone interest in the earliest surviving pile carpets. . . Primarily a resource for scholars, this volume is nonetheless full of beautiful works of exceptional historical interest. . . Highly recommended.” —Choice This volume in Thames & Hudson’s celebrated series cataloging the al-Sabah collection features a unique collection of carpets and textile fragments from the pre-Islamic and early Islamic world. The Sasanian fragments fill a substantial gap in the early history of pile carpets, dating from the second to the eighth century AD, and make a valuable contribution of the understanding of local artistic traditions. The second half of the book is devoted to post-Sasanian and Sogdian silks dating from the sixth to the tenth century. A wave of these beautiful textiles has reached the West since the turn of the 21st century, and here they are divided into variants featuring birds, mammals, and mythological creatures, which retain their glowing colors and lively charm.