Safavid Animal Carpets

                                                                               Map of Safavid Iran 1501-1722

The Emperor’s Animal Carpet in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York

Czar Peter the Great of Russia presented a pair of animal design Safavid carpets as gifts to the emperor of Austria, Leopold I in 1698. It is unknown if this pair was commissioned by the Czar to the Safavid court or was acquired after they were made in the court workshops. In much later date, these carpets became the property of the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna. One of these carpets which are now called the Emperor’s Carpet is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

On the technical notes, the size of this magnificent Emperor’s carpet is 330 cm by 751 cm,  or 10’ 10” x 24’ 8”. It is made of asymmetrical knots with silk warp and weft. The pile is wool. It is finely and densely woven with around 400 knots per square inch. It is obvious that the dye is all natural. It is believed that this rug was made in mid16^th century in the reign of Shah Tahmasp who ruled Iran from 1524 to 1576. Since Isfahan became the capital of the Safavid dynasty by Shah Abbas I (Ruled 1578-16250) in 1598, this asymmetrically knotted carpet could not be made in Isfahan. Tabriz was the capital from the inception of the Safavids from 1501 to 1555. However, since the weaving of this carpet is in asymmetrical knots, this cannot be woven in the royal workshops of Tabriz. Another possible place with long history of carpet weaving tradition is Herat. Therefore, it might be safe to claim that this Emperor’s carpet was made in Herat in northeast Iran, in the province of Khorasan. Herat became a part of Afghanistan in mid19^th century.  

The size, color palette, design, construction, and other variables and details of this beautiful masterpiece are in accordance with other Safavid carpets kept in museums around the world and in private collections. Some of the animals in this carpet look real, while others are fantastic and imaginary mythical creatures. Some of them are alone and some are in combat. 

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
www.RugIdea.com
Tel. 310-770-9085
The pictures are the courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the map is the courtesy of Wikipedia.

Animal Design Tribal Gabbeh Rugs

The use of Animals in Rugs and Carpets have been in effect since centuries ago. They have been part of rugs woven in cities and workshops. They have even been in tribal weaving and continue to this day. Our own tribal Gabbeh rug productions include many designs which have animals in them. The tribal weaving mostly includes animals such as goats, sheep, camels, birds, etc. since those are the animals they come in contact with on daily bases. Specially with tribal weavers, animals play a major role in their daily lives which is the reason they are included in many of their rugs.

These specific pictures of the Gabbeh Rugs posted are from our own production looms made by our weavers in the Fars province in south west Iran around the famous city of Shiraz. They are made with fine hand-spun lamb's wool and natural dye. The knot per square inch of these Gabbeh Rugs are 165.

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
www.RugIdea.com
Tel. 310-770-9085

An Old Animal Carpet Design and Its Origin

It is very difficult to find the oldest animal design carpet in the world and even if such a carpet exists, finding its date would not be an easy task. What might be easier and more feasible is finding paintings with animal design carpets in them. At least we may hope that these paintings can be dated and the artists can be identified.

I did an extensive research on this topic and reached very interesting findings. An early Italian Renaissance painter of the 15th century named Domenico di Bartolo also called Domenico Veneziano, born 1410 and died in 1461, did the first painting shown on top here. This painting "The Marriage of the Foundlings" features a large carpet with a Chinese-inspired phoenix-and-dragon pattern. Since it is not possible to find the exact carpet shown in this painting, we have to refer to a later carpet a Phoenix-and-dragon carpet, made in the first half or middle of the 15th century with the same design.

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
www.RugIdea.com
Tel. 310-770-9085

Nain Animal Design Carpets and Rugs

The city of Nain  ( also spelled Naeen ) with 35,000 sq. km. area, is located at around 80 miles distance to the east of Isfahan city and 200 miles to the south east of Tehran. It is located in the central plateau of Iran, in Isfahan Province. The climate of Nain is hot and dry. This city has many famous villages and wells.

The historical city of Nain has old antiquity and is a relic of pre-Islamic era. In
geography books belonging to the 1st Islamic century, e.g., `Hodudol Alam` (372
AH.) there are some notes revealing the name with some characteristics and
features of this city. The most important historical relic of Naein is `Narenj` or `Narin` castle. The native architecture as well as the way of living of this desert community is very interesting and astonishing.

The city of Nain is famous in the world for its magnificent rugs. The history of finewoolen men's cloak and cloth making dates back to centuries, but carpet making is relatively new and around a century old. All the Nain rugs have asymmetrical (Persian ) knots, wool pile and cotton warps. They are closely clipped for better look. In some instances silk warps are used. In higher and finer knotted rugs, kork (baby lamb's wool) is used for the pile. Using touch of silk around the flowers and arabesques is common. It is not unusual to see Nain rugs with more than 500 knots per square inch. Making very big Nain rugs especially for Arab customers is a common practice in Nain.

Some of the Nain rugs have animal directional designs. Here I am posting few pictures from such a rug with the pictures of lions hunting gazelles. Master artist Habibian who died few years ago at the age of 90 was one of the pioneers of Nain rugs. His carpets had his signature and many producers now a days use his signature on their carpets and this has become a controversy over Nain carpets in the past several years. Of course, when you want to buy a Persian Nain rug, you should not be obsessed with the mere signature as the quality of the rug, the balance in the design, the consistency of the knots are few more important factors than the signature itself.

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
www.RugIdea.com
Tel. 310-770-9085

Animal Design Balouch (Baluch or Belouch) Rugs

Balouch (Baluch or Belouch) rugs most commonly known as prayer rugs because of their size and design, are woven by tribes and clans in northeaster Iran around Mashad and in western Afghanistan.Woven on horizontal looms, they are usually no longer than 4 x 6 feet and are wool on wool meaning the warp and weft and the pile is made out of wool. The design of Balouch rugs usually consists of small flowers and motifs and simple geometric designs. There are no animals or other symbols used in these rugs due to many using them for prayers. This is because these complicated designs can distract a person while praying in addition to some believing that having symbols on a prayer rug is a type of idolization.

This unique animal Balouch rug, however, has a fair amount of use of animal designs with the main theme being the tree of life. There are different types of birds woven at the bottom of the tree of life with birds on each branch as the tree continues to the other side of the rug. On the other side of the rug there are birds woven facing the other direction making the observers question the direction of the tree. Due to the general design and the animals and birds used in this Balouch rug, it is fair to say that it was probably not meant to be used as a prayer rug specifically although the real reasoning behind this mystery can be openly questioned.

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
www.RugIdea.com
Tel. 310-770-9085

Kashmar Animal Carpets

Kashmar is a very small town in north east Iran. It is located 130 miles south of the famous city of Mashad. Kashmar is an ancient city which was once on the border of the Silk Road with around 2400 years of history. The population of the town is around 200,000 and the export of Kashmar is grapes of all kinds, raisins, and of course good hand knotted rugs. The name of this town was changed from Torshiz to Kashmar around 200 years ago.

Once in a while we receive Kashmar rugs with animal designs for cleaning or repair. This is what we received last week for cleaning and some stain removal. There are pictures of gazelles, deers, swans, and many birds on this 4' x 6' hand knotted Kashmar rug.There is a big vase at the bottom with two flanking smaller vases in the middle of the rug. The foundation is cotton and the pile is wool.


Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
www.RugIdea.com
Tel. 310-770-9085

Animal Carpets and Their Beauty

Animal carpets have different types. There maybe real figures such as birds, fish, wild animals, domestic animals, or fantastic, exotic and mythical creatures, and more. Some of these maybe static animals sitting there doing nothing. Some maybe running, flying, moving, or fighting! I love them all and when I see a good one, I will share it with you here on this blog.

Dr. Khosrow Sobhe (Dr. Kay)
Certified Rug Specialist (CRS)
www.LosAngelesRugCleaning.com
www.RugIdea.com
Tel. 310-770-9085