The Ardabil Carpet
Maqsud of Kashan. 1539-1540 C.E. Silk and wool
The Ardabil Carpet is exceptional; it is one of the world's oldest Islamic carpets, as well as one of the largest, most beautiful and historically important. It is not only stunning in its own right, but it is bound up with the history of one of the great political dynasties of Iran.
Currently in Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Form:
Silk Warps and Wefts with wool pile (25 million knots, 340 per sq. inch)
The pile of carpet is made from wool, rather than silk because it holds dye better.
The more knots per sq. centimeter, the more detailed and elaborate the patterns can be
The dyes used to color the carpet: are natural, include pomegranate rind and indigo
Up to 10 weavers working at a time on the carpet
Function:
Fundamental examples of Islamic art— made of silk and wools, carpets were traded and sold across Islamic lands and into China and Europe
Iranian carpets were highly prized— carpets decorated mosques, shrines, and homes, also could to be hung on walls to preserve warmth
Islamic Art: very intricately designed and large amounts of time were put into designing the carpets
Made for prayer in funerary shrine
Content:
Design— geometric patterns, vegetative scrolls, floral flourishes, typical Islamic Art designs
Central golden medallion dominates the carpet, surrounded by a ring of multi colored and detailed ovals
Lamps at either end hang— meaning: possibly use of perspective with different sizes of lamps, or mimic the lamps, unity within the shrine
The border is made up of a frame with a series of (rectangular shaped spaces for calligraphy), filled with decorations
Design in the medallion is repeated by the four corner pieces
Inscriptions: four line inscription placed at one end— short poem is vital for understanding the commencing of the carpet and date
Except for thy threshold, there is no refuge for me in all the world.
Except for this door there is no resting-place for my head.
The work of the slave of the portal, Maqsud Kashani.
Maqsud: court official in charge with producing carpets
Reference to himself as a slave, humble servant
Persian word for door used to denote shrine or royal court, court patronizes the shrine
4th line of poem provides date of the carpet, AH 946
Muslim calendar begins in year 620 CE— AH 946 is equivalent to 1539/40 CE
Summarized:
- huge carpet, funerary shrine of Safial-Din
- Prayer carpet
- Medallion in center represents inside of dome with 16 pendants
- Mosque lamps hang from two pendants, one lamp smaller than the other, larger lamp placed further away so it would appear same size as the smaller
- Corner squinches also have pendants-- looking into the dome
- World's oldest dated carpet
- Wool carpet, woven by 10 people, location and size entrusted with men
Context:
Named after the town of Ardabil in North-West Iran.
Ardabil was home of the shrine of the Sufi saint, Safi al Din Ardabili (leader who trained his followers in Islamic mystic practices)— (Sufism is Islamic mysticism)
After his death in 1334, his followers grew and descendants became influential in community.
In 1501, one of his powerful descendants and supporters named Shah Isma’il, seized power and united Iran, eventually establishing Shi’a Islam as the official religion
The dynasty he founded is known as the Safavids, their rule, which lasted until 1722, was one of the most important periods of Islamic art, especially in textiles and for manuscripts
The carpet was a matching pair that was made for the shrine of Safi-al Din Ardabili when it was enlarged in the late 1530s.
The carpet produced in a court workshop in 15th and 16th centuries.
In 1843, British noted that one carpet was still present in the shrine of the Sufi Saint, and 30 years later, an earthquake damaged the shrine and the carpets were sold off
Ziegler & Co. of Manchester restored them, and repaired them
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/west-and-central-asia/a/the-ardabil-carpet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardabil_Carpet
https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/the-ardabil-carpet
Cross Cultural Comparisons:
The Bayeaux Tapestry
Hiapo
Ringgold, Dancing at the Louvre
