Silk Mamluk Carpet
Recently, I visited the MAK (Museum of Applied Arts) in Vienna [1], which, with its new presentation: MAK Schausammlung Textilien und Teppiche (25 March 2026 – 31 December 2030) [2], has expanded its collection with an impressive display of historical carpets and textiles. I spent an especially long time standing in front of a large piece presented at the center of the room, measuring roughly 250 × 500 cm: the Silk Mamluk Carpet.
I examined this carpet as closely as a museum visitor possibly can. According to the information panel, it was created in the first quarter of the 16th century in Egypt, during the Mamluk rule, which is why it is classified today as one of the so‑called Mamluk carpets. These carpets are characterized – ccording to the style of the time – by an extraordinarily dense, hand‑knotted weave.
The colors of the geometric‑floral patterns of this remarkable floor covering are no longer particularly vivid, yet its condition still gives, at least to my untrained eye, the impression that it could continue to be used. This aspect astonished me the most: a roughly 500‑year‑old carpet that has not succumbed to the destructive effects of ordinary use or climatic conditions – whether in the rooms where it was stored and laid out, or along the routes it may have traveled during transport. What an astonishing level of craftsmanship.