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of
Late Mr. Sheel Chandra
& Maharajas’ of India
C a r p e t s f r o m t h e p r i v at e c o l l e c t i o n
of
Late Mr. Sheel Chandra
& Maharajas’ of India
M
r. Sheel Chandra was one of India’s most respected collector and curator of carpets and
textiles. Known worldwide for his passion and appreciation for rare carpets and textiles,
he was esteemed for his ability to create, maintain, and share his love and knowledge
of carpets. Mr. Chandra founded the Carpet Cellar in 1975 in New Delhi, India and had
acquired the finest rugs from Maharajas ,Estates, private collections and museums across the world.
Amongst other accolades, Mr. Chandra was known for having the one of the largest private collection of
Persian carpets in India.
Carpets
Agra Jail
Palatial Carpet
17th - 18th Century
Circa 1920
Handknotted Vegetable or Natural Dyed, Cotton foundation Woollen pile
Size 15.1 x 10 Feet • 461 x 305 cms
Ref No. TCC-6036
Carpets from the private collection of late Mr. Sheel Chandra & Maharajas’ of India 9
Agra Jail
Palatial Carpet
17th - 18th Century
Circa 1900
Handknotted Vegetable or Natural Dyed, Cotton foundation Woollen pile
Size 11.6 x 8.8 Feet • 359 x 268 cms
Ref No. 2288
Carpets from the private collection of late Mr. Sheel Chandra & Maharajas’ of India 11
Pas h m i na K as h an
Superfine
Handknotted Vegetable or Natural Dyed, Cotton foundation Pashmina pile
Circa 1910
Size 17.3 x 12 Feet • 528 x 366 cms
Ref No. A-1657
Carpets from the private collection of late Mr. Sheel Chandra & Maharajas’ of India 13
Ma h a r aja K as h m i r
Handknotted Vegetable or Natural Dyed, Cotton foundation woollen pile
Circa 1910
Each carpet is named after the city, town or Dabeer was a very eminent master carpet weaver
village that it is made in. Each city or village has who used to weave carpets for the Aristocracy and
a certain reputation for weaving carpets, some the Shah of Iran. Dabeer Kashans generally have a
are better than others. central medallion with four corners. However this
particular carpet is most unusual to have Garden
Each weaving centre has its own designs,
of Paradise design along with Tree of Life design
colours, styles of knotting and look. Each city
with lots of birds and animals with more than 35
uses different types of flowers that are possibly
colours.
indigenous to that region and one can hence
Carpets from the private collection of late Mr. Sheel Chandra & Maharajas’ of India 19
The Center field is covered with meandering Blue is made out of indigo.
roses, which are not crowded, creating a lovely
Black is iron oxide.
balance and a soothing beauty. The mastery and
craftsmanship is such that they appear to be like a Yellow is derived from flowers and sometimes
painting giving a three dimensional effect. saffron.
It is an extraordinary play of creating a fascinating Pink is derived most probably from the rose
design between the positive and the negative madder plant. Madder is a creeper and they use
spaces creating harmony. The idea is to create a the flowers from it which gives a beautiful dusky
real life illusion of bringing your gardens indoors. English rose colors.
These are very rare to come across and were Dabeer Kashans are fairly thin in texture, and are
generally commissioned for the Shah of Iran that highly prized by Persians and collectors to be one
were custom made for his palaces or some were of the best collector`s pieces in the World and are
meant to be given by him as ‘gifts’ to visiting heads normally founds in Museums
of states and Aristocracy.
and are always appreciating in value and are
Rust is considered to be colour of Life and is considered to be a great investment for the future
generally derived out of a creeper called madder. generations to come.
Carpets from the private collection of late Mr. Sheel Chandra & Maharajas’ of India 21
D A B EER K A S H A N
Handknotted Vegetable or Natural Dyed, Cotton foundation woollen pile
Circa 1920
Size 13.5 x 10.3 Feet • 412 x 314 cms
Ref No. A-17
The village of ‘Ravar’ situated twenty-five miles The success of the Kerman carpets is mainly
from Kerman is renowned for producing the most due to the skill of the pattern designers, called
beautiful floral carpets of high quality and design. "ustad". The result is that while all Kerman
These carpets are known as "Kerman Ravar". carpets have something in common, which
Carpets from the private collection of late Mr. Sheel Chandra & Maharajas’ of India 59
distinguishes them from those of other areas, deeply depressed and the pile is particularly short
they are also made in a wide variety of designs. on finer Kermans.
Many of the finest rugs had elaborate all over or
The dyes are vegetable/natural dyed i.e they are
panel designs and many were adaptations from
extracted out of plants ,rocks minerals and some
various shawl patterns.
times even insects like laq and cochineal. These
In the Traditional Kermans, the foundation is are generally permanent and rarely fade.
always cotton and it differs from other Persian
Traditionally Kermans are found in deep maroons
city rugs in that there are three wefts after each
and blues.
row of knots, one of which is exceedingly thin.
The two tight wefts keep the warp separated These carpets, generally made for export or
on 2 different levels, while the third weft helps commissioned for the Shah`s, Maharaja`s and
to stabilize the fabric. Alternate warps are thus aristocracy of Europe.
Carpets from the private collection of late Mr. Sheel Chandra & Maharajas’ of India 87
A F K ILIM
Circa 1950
Size 8.7 x 4.7 Feet • 265 x 143 cms
Ref No. TCC-8827
Carpets from the private collection of late Mr. Sheel Chandra & Maharajas’ of India 111
Pa i s l e y B a m b o o S i l k
Size 12.8 x 9 Feet • 390 x 275 cms
Ref No. A-4224
A
rchitectural collection:-This collection breath, mind, meditation and mindfulness. The idea
epitomizes , the beauty and simplicity is to create a serene and calm interior.
of Modern design and Architecture.
We are creating these designs in a high and low
It has been inspired by architectural
technique, with a play of texture, in silk and wool.
greats like Tadao Ando, Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd
The silk shines and the wool part has a matted
Wright and Louis Kahn. The designs are cutting
feel creating a gorgeous texture in muted pastel
edge ,emphasizing nothingness and empty space
colours.
to represent the beauty of simplicity.
We are creating these designs with a play of texture Erased Luxe Collection:- The Erased Luxe
in silk and wool whilst the silk shines and the wool collection is inspired by centuries old designs from
part has a matted feel creating a gorgeous texture. Egypt like Mamluks from the 16th century, the
Safavids from 16-17th century Persia and even
Zen Collection:-The Zen collection is inspired from
modern artists and painters.
the Mahayana Buddhism school that originated
during the Tang dynasty in China. This collection The new generation that want something slightly
emphasizes an ultra-modern simplistic design in different from their previous ones ;yet they do not
subtle, muted colors to create a harmony between want to let go off their heritage and roots.
Carpets from the private collection of late Mr. Sheel Chandra & Maharajas’ of India 113
We are creating these designs with a play of texture `Souf technique` of 16th century Kashan(Central
in silk and wool whilst the silk shines and the wool Persia).
part has a matted feel creating a gorgeous texture. Kilims:- Kilims are hand-woven and are made out
Souzani Collection:- The Souzani Collection of handspun wool woven by illiterate nomads who
reminds us of the world renowned embroidered make them for their own tents and not for resale
Samarkand, Bukhara and Shakhr-E-Sabz. These The patterns are generally abstract with lots of colors
were hand-embroidered with a needle, sometimes & interesting geometric patterns typical of such kilims.
to showcase their future grooms to be ,their beauty,
skill and inner virtues of perseverance and patience. The designs are not symmetrical as they could be
We have created these using a high -low technique woven by different members of the family.
where the silk part is lifted up and the wool part These are also not made with a Naksha or a Graph
that is matted and creates an illusion of it being .The lines can be crooked and also each person
embroidered reminding us of the nearly extinct has different skill.
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