Studio: international art (85.1923)

STUDIO-TALK

history; we must remember that Saxons
first settled in the far east and south-east
of Transylvania more than 800 years ago,
that there were three immigrations of them,
that these settlers built the cities of
Kronstadt, Hermannstadt, Schassburg,
Muhlbach among others, and that the
descendants of these Saxons accepted the
Reformed Faith and were granted freedom
of religious thought by the Peace of Vienna
in 1606. In their pious fervour they
presented these beautiful specimens of
Oriental art to their churches as other
nations have done pictures. Hence it
happens that the Reformed Church in
Transylvania possesses such fine examples
of Mohammedan art. Out of the 312
examples shown 157 belonged to the
Reformed Church. Some few have the year
of their production woven into them;
20 of them have dates painted on the back
or on the end—in one case on both ends
as in the rug shown at top of page 297. The
oldest example, one belonging to Baron
Imre Szalay, has been in that nobleman's
family since 1605 (page 293). a 0
This method of dating seems peculiar to
the Siebenburgen carpets, and at once

suggests the question as to whether it is
reliable from the point of view of their
history, for the records relating to Oriental
carpets point to still earlier dates of origin.
The hypothesis is advanced that they may
have come into the hands of the families
of the donors long before they were given
as votive offerings to the churches. One of
the questions that have arisen in connection
with this subject is why so many Oriental
carpets are found in Transylvania, and it
is concluded that the number now remain-
ing must be but a small proportion of those-
that used to belong to the country. History
reminds us again, however, that Transyl-
vania traded with Turkey, and that there
was a considerable interchange of their
respective productions ; indeed, the history
of Kronstadt from 1503 to 1526, incorpor-
ated in u Quellen 2ur Geschichte der Stadt
Kronstadt," published in 1806, speaks of
the tapeta parva, small carpets, which were
brought from Turkey by way of Roumania
and cost from three to a hundred gulden
each. This explanation, of course, entirely
does away with the delusion, did any exist,,
that these particular carpets were made in
Transylvania. There exists, however, one

RUG, ASIA MINOR, EARLY SEVENTEENTH
CENTURY, SIZE I.91 X I.14 M. BRIGHT
COLOURS ON WHITE GROUND

(Reformed Church Society, Transylvania)

292