PLATE ELEVEN


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Known as the Paris-Cracow carpet, Plate Eleven is the lower half of a piece now divided between museums in Paris and Cracow, Poland. It's said to have been taken as war booty at the battle of Parkany in 1683 and then given to Cracow Cathedral. Being too large for the altar it was cut up and the other half sold.

That piece later entered the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, France as a gift of Jules Maciet in 1903. This museum also has a wonderful collection of early carpets, which unfortunately are not often on public view.

It is woven with an all-silk foundation.