Holbein carpet

Holbein carpets are a type of carpet taking their name from Hans Holbein the Younger, due to their depiction in European Renaissance paintings, although they are shown in paintings from many decades earlier than Holbein.

The art historian Kurt Erdmann has sub-divided the "Holbein" design into four types (of which Holbein actually only painted two); they are among the commonest designs of Anatolian carpet seen in Western Renaissance paintings.

Their production started by the mid-15th century, and continued to be produced for nearly two centuries.

All are purely geometric and use a variety of arrangements of lozenges, crosses and octagonal motifs within the main field.

The sub-divisions are between:[1] Holbein frequently used carpets in portraits, on tables for most sitters, but on the floor for Henry VIII.

Type I small-pattern Holbein carpet, Anatolia , 16th century. Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin
Type IV large-pattern Holbein carpet, 16th century, Bergama region. Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum
Large-pattern Holbein carpet, C-14 dated to 1370–1450 AD (95.4% probability)