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Ayineh: The Mirror in Persian Carpet Designs

Persian carpets have been recognized for their great variety of intricate patterns achieved with technical and aesthetic sophistication. At the same time, their intellectual motivations and symbolic role as carriers of personal and social meanings have been relatively neglected. The mirror ayineh is a theme with strong resonances in many dimensions of Iranian culture from metaphysical philosophy to religion and folk beliefs. Close friends are commonly said to be mirrors of each other. On the spiritual journey, the dervish polishes his heart to become a flawless mirror that perfectly reflects the divine pattern. In the practices of Sufism, the mirror leads naturally to speculations about the dualities of substance and essence, appearance and reality, sight and vision. We explore this theme as it appears in many Persian carpet designs of the modern period. Joining beautiful outer forms and profound inner meanings, these mirror designs embody and communicate a common vision uniting aesthetic values with

By |January 3rd, 2023|Uncategorised|0 Comments
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Zaher va Baten: Outer Form and Inner Meaning in Iranian Textile Designs

The distinction between zaher and baten, outer and inner, is a fundamental duality encountered in the philosophical, psychological, religious and mystical aspects of Iranian thought. The metaphysical desire to go beyond sensory apprehension of transient external forms to intellectual comprehension of their lasting inner significance may be considered the central theme of Iranian visual art including textile designs. A close examination of four textiles from the modern period reveals some of the concealed personal motivations and cultural meanings embodied in their patterns. Beyond all practical concerns, these weavings have in common the aim of unifying the duality of ordinary sight and insight and the related duality of aesthetics and ethics. Achieved by different means, the textile designs accomplish this by encouraging an imaginative journey from zaher to baten, from material form to spiritual essence. 1. In the study of Iranian textile designs, there comes a time when most questions concerning materials and techniques have

By |December 29th, 2022|Uncategorised|0 Comments
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Carpets and Textiles from East Turkestan and Western China

Vase and Pomegranate Design The oasis towns of Khotan, Yarkand and Kashgar are located along the southern branch of the fabled Silk Road in the Xinjiang region of north-western China. Since ancient times until the early decades of the twentieth century, they have been known to the outside world as trading centers with long histories of textile production. Near these cities, archaeologists have discovered fragments of pile-knotted carpets and other textiles preserved in the dry sandy soil. Some date back almost two millennia and new discoveries continue to be made. Located at the crossroads of Central Asia, the three cities have been historically important during numerous periods. In a repeated pattern, local kingdoms flourished from trading activities for as long as a few centuries before passing away. The Silk Road and its many tributaries formed a tenuous link between ancient Greece and Rome and the land they called Serica. This was the unknown country

By |November 13th, 2019|East Turkestan|0 Comments
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Decorating with Persian Carpets

Formal and Informal Alternatives When considering the possibility of decorating with Persian carpets, there may be some understandable apprehensions. In the twenty-first century, it is reasonable to ask if people really want to live in a perfect museum exhibit or in a scaled-down replica of Downton Abbey. The impressive Kashan carpet seen on Shark Tank may seem far too large and powerful to live with in normal-sized homes. We should mention that many beautiful smaller versions of the same classic design (in rug sizes and larger) have been made in the old weaving center Kashan and some are still commercially available. Then there are the intriguing carpets shown in the medieval settings of Wolf Hall. In Tudor England, Persian carpets acquired by trade through the Ottoman Empire were highly valued. Almost five hundred years ago, they were valued for their practical qualities on the cold floors of draughty

By |March 4th, 2019|Decorating|0 Comments
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Rugs from Shiraz

Qashqai, Afshar, Khamseh, Luri, Gabbeh … Located in the southwest region of Iran, Shiraz has been a center of Persian culture for a thousand years and more. The frequently visited tombs of the 13th and 14th century writers Saadi and Hafez testify to the cultural importance of the city during the classical period of Iranian literature. Shiraz is the capital of Fars province which the Greeks called Persis, the source of the Western term Persia. Near Shiraz, the dramatic ruins of Persepolis are the most famous reminder of the great power of the ancient Persian Empire of Darius and Xerxes. Many older buildings in Shiraz were restored during a period of prosperity in the 18th century. The impressive Bazaar-e Vakil (Bazaar of the Regent) built at this time is considered by many to be the finest in Iran. Countless Persian textiles have been sold in this bazaar to be shipped to dealers in Europe and North America.

By |March 2nd, 2019|Persian Tribal|0 Comments
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Bakhtiari Rugs and Carpets

Creative Expressions of an Old Community The Bakhtiari people of southwest Persia experienced an almost complete transformation of their way of life in the twentieth century. They began as a mainly nomadic tribal group moving with their sheep between summer and winter grazing areas, a difficult migration in the Zagros Mountains that is memorably recalled in the classic documentary film Grass: A Nation’s Battle for Life (1925). In present times, only a small proportion of the Bakhtiari still live a comparable migratory life with some changes. Their animals now travel more often in the relative comfort of modern trucks. Contemporary migrants no longer walk great distances through snow-covered mountain passes. Great changes followed the discovery of oil in the Bakhtiari regions. This was a new source of wealth and government influence for the tribal group in the early decades of the last century. In that period of substantial political changes, the leading Bakhtiari khans

By |March 2nd, 2019|Persian Tribal|0 Comments
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