allahallah Textiles and object art are prestigious and highly valued in the Islamic world, used in homes, palaces, mosques, and also served as gifts, rewards and signs of political favor. The textile traditions of Sasanian Iran and the Mediterranean region were adopted and developed by the Muslim weavers. The art spread all over the Muslim world and by the tenth century, Muslim textiles were famous and widely exported. The carpets served a double function in Iran and Anatolia where they protected against the winter cold in both tents and palaces.


Carpet, Tomb-Mosque of Shah Tahmasp at Ardebil, Iran, 1540



allahallahThis is a large example of the medallion type and bears a design of massed large elements surrounded and enhanced by a wealth of details. The background field of blue is covered with leaves and flowers attached to a framework of stems that weave a spiral design over the whole field. Because this carpet was made for a mosque, its decoration excludes human and animal figures, although other carpets from Iran display that this restriction was not taken as seriously in secular art. Click here to continue on.