A Tabriz carpet of Ardabil design

North West Persia 716cm x 440cm

Footnotes

The Ardabil carpet:
The original carpet (now on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum) was made in the town of Ardabil in north-west Iran. It was here that Sufi leader, Shaykh Safi al-Din Ardabili, (ancestor of Shah Ismail, founder of the powerful Safavid dynasty) was buried. Edward Stebbing, a British carpet dealer, bought the carpet then resold the piece to the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1893 for £2000. Designer William Morris advised the museum in the acquisition and said that the carpet was of "singular perfection ... logically and consistently beautiful.'

The central medallion is said to resemble the interior of the dome of the Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque in Isfahan. The two differently sized lamp motifs are now seen as an early use of graphical perspective. Some have suggested that when viewed from the end with the smaller lamp the two appear to be the same size. However there are some historians who argue that that there is no clear proof that graphical perspective was used in Iran during that period. Other historians and critics suggest that the carpet acted as reflection, and that the lamps mirror those hanging from the ceilings of mosques and shrines of the time.

Today in the Victoria and Albert Museum the carpet is displayed in the Jameel Gallery. The lights above the carpet are turned on for only ten minutes on the hour and half hour. This not only highlights the fragility of such a piece but adds to the drama and sense of theatre when viewing it.


Please note that this lot is subject to the US embargo on the import of carpets of Iranian origin as of 06.08.2018