Knots, Art & History: The Berlin Carpet Collection

Anyone who thinks of carpets has the bright colours of the Orient in mind. Knots, Art & History brings together the best, most unique carpets of the 14th–17th centuries from the Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin's famous collection. Forty-five of the approximately 500 carpets from Spain, Egypt, Anatolia, the Ottoman Empire, the Caucasus, Persia and India represent the reunited collection for the first time in English. The catalogue presents the eventful history of the collection. With the beginning of research on Islamic art around 1900, and especially with Wilhelm von Bode's groundbreaking research on carpets, the Berlin Collection became the center of international investigations. European painting was a focus here and Wilhelm von Bode's dating method using paintings made the “Berlin School” known worldwide and influenced generations of researchers.