Pattern and Symbols within Persian Carpets



Acknowledgement

I am very great full to British library in London, Bodleian Library in Oxford, St Martin library in London, for having a wide collection of original manuscripts, and the British Museum, Victoria Albert Museum in London, Louvre Museum in Paris, Essi gallery in London, Carpet Museum of Iran located in Tehran for having a great collection in Persian Carpet and textile, and the Iranian heritage charities foundation in London.

Abstract

This paper recognises the historical importance of Persian carpet and seeks to investigate its influence upon the expression of artistic and ethnic identity in contemporary Persian carpet. I propose to demonstrate that the history of Islamic Carpet proves that it had Persian influence in its making. I propose to identify specific correlations between the use of symbol, colour, and pattern in Persian and Islamic carpet design. I propose Islamic art is not at all restricted to religious art, but includes all the art of the rich and varied cultures of societies as well. But the reason of establishment of Jameel Gallery is expressed as: “This harmony between shape of an object and its decoration is characteristic of Islamic art, and it is something that the founder of the Jameel gallery greatly admired”. But I propose it frequently includes secular elements. And elements that are frowned upon, if not forbidden, by some Islamic theologians. As expressed by Lederach (1995): “Culture is the shared knowledge and schemes created by a set of people for perceiving, interpreting, expressing, and responding to the social realities around them”.

Chapter 1: Introduction

The Baharestan carpet, which means the spring carpet, was commissioned by Sasanian king Shah-Khosrw, which was made for the main audience hall of the Sasanian dynastic (the last pre-Islamic Persian) imperial Palace at Ctesiphon, in the province of Khvarvaran (now in Iraq). It was 140 m long and 27 m wide. Woven of silk, gold, silver, stones, the carpet depicted a splendid garden akin to Paradise1.In 637 CE With occupation of Iranian capital, Ctesiphon, the Baharestan carpet was taken by the Arabs, cut into small fragments and divided among the victorious soldiers as booty2.

An interdiction to Persian carpet: The art of carpet weaving existed in Iran in ancient times, according to evidence such as the2500-year-old Pazyryk carpet, dating back to 500 B.C. It was excavated by Sergei Ivanovich Rudenko Sergei in 1949 from a Pazyryk buria mound where it had been preserved in ice in the valley of Pazyryk. The origin of this carpet is attributed to either the Scythians or the Persian Achaemenids (a Persian dynasty that ruled from 550-331 BC).This richly coloured carpet is 200 x 183 cm (6'6" x 6'0") and framed by a border of griffins.

Chapter 2: Literature Review

Zoroastrian period

The Pazyryk Carpet, the oldest known surviving carpet in the world, 5th century before Islam. Islamic art focuses on the portrayal of patterns, rather than on the figures.

At the present this rug is kept in the Leningrad Museum

Figure 1: John A. Boyle, 1978, Persia History and Heritage, ...