To say that a piece is bad relative to some of the stars of the show is akin to comparing your average NBA player to Michael Jordan. Sadly, these pieces are not available on the Met's website and cannot be depicted here. Both are prayer rugs with a single plant growing under the mihrab. It is a wonderful thing to find drawing and color worthy of such a fine weave. The drawing of these plants, especially the poppy rug from a private European collection, is the finest you will see on any work of art.
Colors are incredibly deep and beautiful.
The shading, accomplished by respinning the wool of two distinct colors, gives depth that you will find in no other weaving. It is impossible to describe these exquisite rugs on paper. Even the high quality photographs in Daniel Walker's outstanding catalogue are pale imitations of these gems. . Three casualties were the McMullan prayer rug, which had the misfortune of being displayed next to my two favorites, and the millifleur pieces that came later in the exhibition. The McMullan rug should have been elsewhere.