{"id":10914,"date":"2023-01-18T16:56:10","date_gmt":"2023-01-18T19:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/figalli.com\/orientacoes-para-com\/ardabil-the-most-famous-carpet-in-the-world\/"},"modified":"2024-01-12T15:34:27","modified_gmt":"2024-01-12T18:34:27","slug":"ardabil-the-most-famous-carpet-in-the-world","status":"publish","type":"orientacoes-para-com","link":"https:\/\/figalli.com\/en\/orientacoes-para-com\/ardabil-the-most-famous-carpet-in-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Ardabil, the most famous carpet in the world"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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“A remarkable work of art\u2026 the design is of singular perfection\u2026 its size and splendour as a piece of workmanship do full justice to the beauty and intellectual qualities of the design.” – William Morris, a famous 19th-century English poet and textile designer.
\nThe Ardabil carpet, measuring 10.5 x 5.3 meters and completed in 1539-40, is the most famous in the world. It is also of great historical importance. It was commissioned as a pair of carpets by the ruler of Persia, Shah Tahmasp, between 1524 and 1576 for the shrine of his ancestor, Shaykh Safi al-Din, in the city of Ardabil, in northwestern Persia. It became the most famous Persian carpet and has been the subject of numerous copies that vary in size, from small rugs to palace-sized carpets.
\nA Brief History of the Ardabil Carpet
\nArdabil, a city in northwestern Iran (Azerbaijan province), is renowned for the shrine of Shaykh Safi al-Din Ardabili, a Sufi leader who passed away in 1334. Shaykh trained his followers in Islamic mystical practices, and his family, to whom his followers remained loyal after his death, gained increasing influence. The Safavids, who ruled until 1722, promoted Shaykh\u2019s shrine as a pilgrimage site. Shah Tahmasp, expanded the shrine in the late 1530s, coinciding with the creation of a pair of carpets.
\nThe Ardabil carpet boasts a rich, meticulously planned design. A dark indigo field is adorned with intricate floral motifs surrounding a central medallion. The composition of both carpets draws inspiration from the plan of Sheikh Safi\u2019s mosque. The entire piece conjures the visual effect of a celestial dome illuminated with lamps reflecting their light in a pool filled with floating lotus flowers. As befits a carpet intended for a shrine, there are no human or animal figures, although such figures can be found in other carpets used in non-secular contexts.
\nCrafted in the mid-16th century, this pair of carpets is considered a pinnacle of classical Persian schools. There is no record of the carpets\u2019 origin – Tabriz or Kashan are the most likely places – nor any evidence, except for its long-standing nickname, that the carpets came from the Ardabil shrine in northern Persia. After significant wear in the Ardabil mosque, they were sold in 1890 to a British carpet dealer who restored one of the carpets using its pair and then resold it to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
\nThe second carpet, smaller and borderless, was crafted solely from what remained from the restoration of the first Ardabil. It was sold to American businessman Clarence Mackay and later passed through the Mackay, Yerkes, and De la Mare art collections, exhibited in London in 1931. American industrialist J. Paul Getty purchased it from Lord Duveen for approximately $70,000 several years later. Agents representing King Farouk of Egypt approached Getty, offering $250,000 to purchase it as a wedding gift. Getty later donated the carpet to the Museum of Science, History, and Art in Exposition Park in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Shah Tahmasp or Tahmasb I (1514 \u2013 1576) was an influential Safavid shah, who enjoyed the longest reign of any member of the Safavid dynasty.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The exact knot count of the Ardabil carpet varies throughout its structure, as expected. However, the average number is 5,472 knots per square meter. The Los Angeles carpet presents the exact knot count, supporting the argument that the same team simultaneously wove both carpets.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMedallion<\/strong>\r\n\r\nLooking at the precisely symmetrical central medallion, one sees a garden-like nature on the carpet. According to most scholars, this suggests that the medallion’s innermost part is a garden pool. However, some scholars dispute this by saying that the design consists of a radiant sun, representing the interior of a dome, surrounded by 16 pendants.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLarge and small lamps<\/strong>\r\n\r\nTwo lamps of varying sizes are suspended along the axis of the carpet\u2019s medallion. The meaning of each lamp has been a subject of debate among art historians for centuries. Some suggest that the lamps were incorporated to create a perspective effect, intending to make them appear equal in size when viewed from one end of the carpet. However, there\u2019s no evidence of this perspective being used in Persia in 1530. Others believe the lamps were included to echo those found in mosques and shrines, aiding the viewer in visually connecting the carpet below with the ceiling above, where similar lights would be hung, thereby creating a sense of unity within the sanctuary. The carpet\u2019s direction indicates that the weavers started weaving from the side of the smaller lamp. Interestingly, the smaller lamp, like the larger one, has a flat shape rather than a three-dimensional object shape. Notably, it presents a deliberately made flaw in its design, reflecting the belief that perfection is exclusive to God. However, some argue that the smaller lamp was designed to create a perspective effect – if one sat close to it, both lamps would appear the same size.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe floral design<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThe rich blue background is covered by leaves and flowers connected to delicate branches that spread throughout the carpet’s field. The intertwined vines follow curvilinear patterns in spiral and oval shapes. The floral designs create beautiful effects that refer the mind to temporality. Some flowers, whether a lotus or a Chinese peony, are in full bloom, and others are still budding.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFloral border<\/strong>\r\n\r\nClouds in the Chinese style cheer up the floral borders of the carpet. The lotus flower is found 16 times along the border of the Ardabil carpet. The decoration of its border is meticulously crafted. The floral design represents spring and all the allegories associated with rebirth and fertility. But each flower also has symbolism. The lotus flowers along the border represent rebirth, and the peonies, scattered across its field, symbolize power.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tInscription and Signature<\/strong>\r\n\r\nBoth Ardabil carpets contain a four-line inscription placed at one of their ends. The small text is the transcription of a poem by the famous Persian poet Hafiz. Below the poem, the carpet is signed by its master artist Maqsoud Kachani and dated 946 (1539-40 AD).\r\nThe epigraph shows the artist’s recognition and devotion to his patron, Shah Tahmasp, who commissioned the carpet-making.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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“I have no refuge in the world beyond your threshold. There is no protection for my head beyond this door. The work of the court servant Maqsoud of Kashan in the year 946.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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