The Adrabil Carpet

 The Ardabil Carpet, Maqsud of Kashan, Persian: Safavid dynasty, silk warps and wefts with wool pile (25 million knots, 340 per sq. inch), 1539-40 C.E., Tabriz, Kashan, Isfahan or Kirman, Iran (Victoria & Albert Museum)

 

 

For my first blog post for week five, I decided to go with The Ardabil Carpet, Maqsud of Kashan. I chose this piece because of the significant role this played in the economy of the Islamic’s during the later period. What I am specifically referring to is the trade of carpets during that time period. Carpets had a strong correlation to royalty because of the price for them, as well as the amount of time and effort that was put into them. More specifically according to smart history, “These large-scale, high-quality pieces were created as luxurious furnishings for royal courts. The most famous—perhaps of all time—is a pair known as the Ardabil Carpets, created in 1539-1540.” The pair of carpets the quote is referring to are almost identical in every which way (symmetrical, number of stitching, and colors.) As you can see in the above picture, almost every single inch is filled with infinite detail such as “flowers, scrolling vines, and medallions.” The Islamic empire did struggle up until Shah Abbas became the ruler. As ruler he changed a lot for the empire. He moved the capitol to Isfahan “where he built a magnificent new city and established state workshops for textiles, which, along with silk and other goods, were increasingly exported to Europe.” This is important because of the trade of silk and the carpets during this period. Silk was extremely valuable to these different empires for so many different reasons. At this point in time silk was used to create pieces of art, like the carpet above, in many different fashions. Rather it was for carpets, clothes, decorations, and for blankets to help keep families warm. For the Islamic exporting and trading their silk truly helped boost and stimulate their economy again after the years of struggle in finances. The textile industry they had created also helped in a tremendous way by helping with their architectural struggles. The textiles they were able to trade and create helped them produce buildings and structures much like what the Persians had accomplished.

 

Link to smart history: https://smarthistory.org/arts-of-the-islamic-world-the-later-period/

 

Barlow, Glenna, and Glenna Barlow. “Arts of the Islamic World: The Later Period.” Smarthistory, smarthistory.org/arts-of-the-islamic-world-the-later-period/.