It is always advisable to attend the receptions which usually precede such meetings, as this is about the only time when one has an opportunity to meet the attendees and acquire a sense of what is happening elsewhere. And, if one had not seen the exhibition, this also was the only time when a leisurely view of the exhibition was afforded.
Although a large group of rug collectors was not anticipated, they were conspicuous by their absence. The majority of those present were curators and conservators from museums or otherwise professionally employed in the field of textiles. As one met the attendees, it became acutely obvious how overwhelmingly women dominate this field. If one entered the opening reception thinking it was a labor union or corporate directors meeting, one might conclude that the group could be vulnerable to a sex discrimination hiring suit.
This professional and sexual coterie seemed not to be a drawback; the conference the next day was one of the best organized and most informative events to be held in recent years. Every speaker presented information which was not only new but, in several instances, the presentation and data were truly inspiring in thoroughness and creativity.
Most conferees would probably agree that the best of these was Mary Anderson McWilliams' talk, "Imagery in Safavid Textiles: New Interpretations." Her research focused on the meaning of the figures in a group of Safavid silk satin lampas. These textiles usually show a Safavid soldier leading a captive by a rope with a woman and child in attendance. Her deciphering of who each of these figures was and what they represent was a fascinating piece of detective work. After carefully presenting historical, political, and economic aspects of the reign of Shah Tahmasp in mid-l6th century Iran, as well as numerous examples of this imagery in various fragments, she concluded that the captive, woman and child figures represcnted Georgians who were captured in several Iranian invasions of this region. One explanation for the frequent occurrence of this design is that textile patterns possibly were used as propaganda, that viewers of such designs would have known what this imagery represented and understood its political and military meaning. Ms. McWilliams certainly ironed the wrinkles out of this problem.
It would be interesting to see similar research on some pile carpets with pictorial images. A specific group of Shirvan rugs showing a throne, trees with snakes, and human figures would seem to be a candidate for this type of detective work.
Although space does not permit a capsulization of all of the papers, two other particularly memorable talks were those by Layla S. Diba and Jennifer Scarce. Ms. Diba spoke on "Silk Weaving after the Fall of the Safavids - Problems in the Textile Arts of the Afshar and Zand Periods." She focused on the l8th century, which has been the ignored century in rug and textile studies. She dwelt on methods for attribution of textiles from this century and was refreshing in her iconoclastic remarks about such venerable authorities as Pope and Martin. As an Iranian, she has probably read and accessed more primary materials in Persian than anyone else in the field today. For these reasons her insights were fresh and presented in a lively manner. We don't know if she is a subscriber to the R. E. Wright Report, but she is a devotee of travelers' accounts for information on this period.
It could be argued that Jennifer Scarce's talk on "Elizabeth I and Shah Abbas Alias Gloriana and The Great Sophy, A Study of Safavid, Tudor and Stuart Costume" was perhaps far afield from the main thrust of this symposium. But it is also the type of talk which provides background and color, making the period come alive with relevance and meaning. Ms. Scarce also brought a wonderful British sense of humor, language, and presentation, lightening the mood in the middle of a long afternoon of some otherwise heavy talks.
It seems likely that many of these papers will be published in the next volume of The Textile Museum Journal and thereby will not be lost or published piecemeal in a variety of obscure publications. If this happens in a timely fashion, The Textile Museum will be getting close to publishing its journal in the current year instead of two years behind schedule. Almost all these papers were worthy of publication, and it should happen.
If there is a criticism of the conference, it is that several of the speakers obviously had not read and timed their talks prior to arriving at the podium. Rug dealers and I.C.O.C. speakers are not the only practitioners of this abusive, inconsiderate, and irritating unpreparedness. Museum professionals should know better. Speaking too long, not having papers in order, not checking the stage arrangement in advance, and improperly arranging slides are inexcusable practices. It is abusive of the arrangements committee to require them to terminate a speaker's presentation or force them to abridge a talk in the remaining five minutes. It is inconsiderate of the audience to subject them to poor preparation. It is irritating to everyone who expects better of so-called professionals.
The physical arrangements for registration, talks, lunch, and breaks worked very efficiently. Jan Gibson, who was responsible for these arrangements, is to be commended for the smoothness with which they were handled. It was also a pleasure to see most of The Textile Museum staff in attendance, and to meet them as there have been several personnel changes in recent months.
Although rug people seemed to have stayed away from the Wrinkles Symposium because it was viewed as too heavily biased to textiles, they missed one of the best symposiums in years. Some of the techniques employed to resolve problems of textiles can also be used to resolve problems in Oriental rugs. A myopic attitude of not learning from others will not advance knowledge in a field to which many of us are committed. It is hoped that more will attend The Textile Museum's fall conference whether or not it is about a type of rug or textile in which one is particularly interested.
