The Ardabil Carpet

 


(AH 946, creator unknown, Victorian and Albert Museum) 

This is one of the world's oldest carpets, this Islamic carpet is known for being associated with a great political Iran dynasty. Carpets such as theses are the foundations of Islamic art, they are often traded all throughout Islam, as well as Europe and China. Interestingly enough this carpet got its name from a town in the north-west of Iran called Ardabil. Where it was found in the shrine of the Sufi saint, Safi al-Din Ardabili. This carpet was one of two carpets, that were found in this shrine. These identical carpets, were found together, but now they live in separate museums; the Victorian and Albert Museum in London; while the other is in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. But how they got there is very interesting, these two carpets got their new homes; due to an earthquake that damaged the shrine they were found in and were later sold. Although both were destroyed one was restored, and the other in the  Los Angeles County Museum of Art was not. While many other carpets such as these were made with silk, but the Ardabil carpet is made from wool, better for keeping dyes. This carpet has up to 340 knots per square inch meaning, there had to me lots of intricate details intregated in the carpet. Having many geometric patterns, flowers, and vegetative scrolls. Being so well organized you can't help yourself but just keep looking at this massive 34'6" x 17'6" carpet. With possibly up to 10 weavers working on this at a time; which must have been exhausing and very tiring. Although it is unknown who the creater is, or if it was made in a royal workshop, or not. But looking at all the hard work put into this masterpiece, we can many patterns. Within the center of the carpet there is a giant medalion with gold colors that are reflected in the corners with similer colors. While the border is filled with a series of cartouches full of decorations. Near the center there are two lamps on either side of the piece leaving art historians wondering what importance these two different lamps had. Possibly to show a similar view when sitting upon. The carpet also has another important detail placed at one end, a poem that is important to understanding the background of this carpet. Telling the date of when the carpet was created, as well who wanted it. Art historians found this to have the date AH 946, equivalent to 1539/40 CE. Making one the oldets, and coolest, carpets in teh world.


Dr. Elizabeth Macauly-Lewis, "The Ardabil Carpet," in Smarthistory, August 9, 2015, accessed September 24, 2020, https://smarthistory.org/the-ardabil-carpet/.  

Comments

  1. Justin DwinellSeptember 27, 2020 at 6:51 PM

    David,
    I truly enjoyed reading your post about one of the worlds oldest carpets that was associated with the great political Iran dynasty. The amount of detail that you went into about this carpet and its identical twin was very impressive. I also did my post on this particular carpet but after reading your post I feel as if I gained a lot more information regarding the carpets. I did not know that at the end of the carpet there was a poem describing its background and where it came from. Awesome post David.

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  2. Bvigil7September 27, 2020 at 7:30 PM

    The information you found on this carpet is very interesting. It is fascinating to know that there was a second carpet made to be identical to this one. The idea of having a poem that described it's background is something I never knew was even thought of. It makes me wonder if there were any other pieces like this that use poetry to describe why the object was made. I did not see anything on if the other carpet was restored, was there any intent in restoring the second carpet?

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  3. Kirstyn CraigSeptember 27, 2020 at 9:57 PM

    Thanks for the post David! When I was trying to find my Islamic piece to write about I came across quite a number of impressive carpets. The amount of time and back breaking work that goes into each stitch is insane! Especially your piece, being that it’s approximately 35X18 feet! I’d definitely agree that it’s gotta be one of the coolest rugs in the world!

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousSeptember 27, 2020 at 10:42 PM

    David great post, thats crazy that these carpets survived this long. Also, very interesting that they had to have ten people working on this at a time, and created a giant master piece!

    ReplyDelete

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