The Burrell Collection’s renowned Wagner Garden Carpet is set to be displayed at New York's Metropolitan Museum from 10 July – 7 October 2018. This carpet is considered to be one of the three earliest surviving Persian garden carpets in the world. It will also be the first time that this Wagner Garden Carpet will be on display outside of Great Britain since it was acquired by Sir William Burrell.
Titled Eternal Springtime: A Persian Garden Carpet, the artwork will benefit from a supporting display relating to the importance of gardens in Islamic culture and a full public programme including a symposium and a guest lecture by Noorah al Gailani, Curator of Islamic Civilisations at Glasgow Museums and the Burrell Collection.
Named after an early 20th century owner, the Wagner Garden Carpet is a 17th century Persian Kirman pile carpet with a formal garden layout. Unusual for this type of carpet, it almost invokes an immersive walled menagerie. Reminding the viewer of its cultural roots, its design was inspired by both the pre-Islamic Persian Paradise, and the descriptions of the Garden of Heaven in the Qur’an.
Eternal Springtime: A Persian Garden Carpet, 10 July – 7 October 2018
1000 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10028