Oriental Carpets

Func%on  of  carpets  

•  Floor  covering  •  Prayer  rugs  •  Saddle  blankets  and  saddle  bags  •  Status  symbols  •  Collect  individual  and  community  narra%ves  •  Preserve  cultural  iden%ty  –  women  passed  down  their  techniques  and  designs  to  daughters  

•  Carpets  can  be  iden%fied  to  the  region  based  on  style  and  mo%f.  

Pazyryk  rug  

ca.  400  BCE  

•  Ukok  Princess  (or  shaman)  

Seljuk  period,  Konya,    (Turkey)  1081  -­‐  1307  

Mamluk  carpet,  Cairo  ca.  1500  

•  Carpet  industry  began  1400s  •  Main  colors:  light  green,  red,  yellow  •  First  carpets  to  have  centralized  

design;  earlier  ones  have  repeat  paVern  

•  Func%oned  un%laWer  OVomans  took  control  of  Egypt  in  1517    

Major  centers  of  carpet  weaving  

Safavid  Dynasty,  Iran  (1501  –  1722)  •  Generally  considered  best  quality  and  most  influen%al  carpets  

worldwide  

Mughal  Dynasty,  India  (1526  –  1858)    OVoman  Empire,  Turkey  (1516  –  1918)  

Safavid  Dynasty  

•  Carpets  from  Persia  (now  Iran)  are  s%ll  named  aWer  the  area  in  which  they  were  made:  Hamadan,  Kerman,  Tabriz,  Shiraz,  Bidjar  

•  During  %me  of  Safavid  Dynasty,  carpets  were  oWen  designed  by  miniature  painters,  so  figura%ve  elements  were  not  uncommon.  

The  Emperor’s  Carpet,  ca.  1550,  Herat  

Details  

hVp://www.metmuseum.org/metmedia/video/collec%ons/isl/conserving-­‐the-­‐emperors-­‐carpet  

•  Restora%on  of  the  Emperor’s  Carpet  

Ardabil  Carpet  –  considered  best  surviving  carpet  in  world  (one  in  V&A  ,  one  in  LACMA  museums  

•  One  lamp  mo%f  larger  than  other  –  only  God  is  perfect  

Mughal  Dynasty  

•  Akbar    brought  weavers  to  his  capital  in  the  Agra  district  from  Persia.  

•  India  probably  had  no  cultural  tradi%on  of  carpet  weaving  prior  to  this.  

•  Na%ve  Indians  and  Chinese  ar%sts  helped  shape  a  unique  Mughal  style.  

•  Jahangir  encouraged  ar%sts  to  create  naturalis%c  (realis%c)  renderings.  

Mughal  carpet,  northern  India,  ca.  1650  (rein  of  

Shah  Jahan)  

•  Style  similar  to  carpets  of  Herat  

•  Naturalis%c  plant  mo%fs  •  Neat  rows  reflect  taste  of  the  %me  

Mughal,  Kashmir,  1700s  

•  Prayer  rug  •  Vase  with  flowers  within  niche  area  

•  Extremely  fine  weave  (700  knots/square  inch)  

•  Later  copied  by  weavers  in  Persia.  

OVoman  Period  •  Turkish  tribal  rugs  largely  used  geometric  repeat  paVerns  and  animal  figures.  

•  During  the  OVoman  period,  carpets  were  exported  to  Europe;  some  paVerns  were  so  frequently  depicted  in  a  painter’s  work  that  the  paVern  now  carries  their  name,  i.e.,  “LoVo”  or  “Holbein”.  

•  In  court  workshops,  Egyp%an,  Chinese  and  Persian  influences  could  be  seen  in  carpets  produced  there  as  the  OVomans  conquered  new  territories.  

Ushak,  late  1500s  

Star  Ushak  style  carpet,  late  15th  

century  

•  Influenced  by  Persian  book  design!  

Prayer  carpet,  OVoman,  

Istanbul,  late  1500s  

•  Mihrab  niche  in  center,  with  lamp  suspended  and  flowers  on  the  ground.  

Tribal  rugs  

•  Other  side  of  the  spectrum  from  the  finely  wrought  court  workshop  produc%on  of  the  Safavid,  Mughals  or  OVomans.  

•  For  centuries,  nomadic  and  semi-­‐nomadic  peoples  of  Central  Asia  have  woven  rugs  for  personal  use  and  for  sale  along  the  trade  routes,  like  the  Silk  Road,  that  crisscross  the  region.  

•  The  geometric  paVerns  func%on  much  like  heraldry  in  the  medieval  Western  world,  and  as  tribal  history  –  deno%ng  tribes  and  their  affilia%ons,  marriages,  and  the  poli%cal  forces  which  ruled  during  that  %me  period.  

•  Ca.  1900  Baluchistan  rug  

Ca.  1900,  An%que  Afghan  saddlebag  

mid-­‐1800s  Dagestan  (Caucasian)  prayer  rug    

Beshir  Afgan  rug,  late  1800s  

Mo%fs  

•  Many  paVerns  emerged  in  ancient,  pre-­‐Islamic  %mes.    

•  Some  have  shamanis%c,  magical  themes.  •  Others  borrow  mo%fs  from  trading  partners  or  conquerors,  like  the  Chinese  or  Mongols  (such  as  cloud  bands,  dragons,  lotus).    

•  Elements  from  daily  living  also  make  their  way  into  the  rugs:  jewelry,  flowers,  animals,  s%ck  people,  coffee  pots,  pomegranates  (fer%lity)  and  trees  (life  and  regenera%on).  

Afghanistan    has  been  at  war  since  Russia  invaded  in  

1970s.  

Afghani  tribal  rugs  1970s  -­‐  present  

1990s  war  rug  made  in  refugee  camp  

Drone  War  Rug  

hVp://www.npr.org/2015/02/07/384576113/war-­‐rugs-­‐reflect-­‐afghanistans-­‐long-­‐history-­‐

with-­‐conflict