Ardabil Carpet

The Ardabil Carpet (or Ardebil Carpet) is the name of two different famous Persian carpets, the larger and better-known now in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Originally there were two presumably identical carpets, and the London carpet, as restored and reconstructed in the 19th century, uses sections from both. It now measures 34 ft 3 in × 17 ft 6+7⁄8 in (1,044 cm × 535.5 cm). The other carpet, now in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and smaller at 23 ft 7 in × 13 ft 1+1⁄2 in (718.82 cm × 400.05 cm), was made up of the sections in adequate condition unused for the London carpet. Both carpets are now smaller (shorter in particular) than they would have been originally, and there are other fragments in various collections that appear to come from the reconstruction process. The carpets have a typical Tabriz design, with one central medallion and smaller, ornate designs surrounding. Such medallions and shapes were central to the design and reality of Persian gardens, a common symbol of paradise for followers of Islam.

A cartouche on the London carpet contains the date A.H. 946, or 1539-40, which is thought to be the earliest date on any Persian carpet.

The foundation is silk with wool pile at a knot density of 300–350 knots per square inch (47–54 knots per square centimetre). The size of the London carpet is 34 ft 3 in × 17 ft 6+7⁄8 in (1,044 cm × 535.5 cm), which gives its about 26 million knots in total. The carpets have an inscription: a couplet from a ghazal by Persian mythic poet Hafiz Shirazi and a signature. The inscription reads:

جز استان توام در جهان پناهی نیست سرمرا بجز این در حواله گاهی نیست عمل بنده درگاه مقصود کاشانی ؁٩۴٦

Joz āstān-e to-am dar jahān panāh-ī nīst Sar-e marā be-joz īn dar ḥawāla-gāh-ī nīst ʿAmal-e banda-ye dargāh Maqṣūd Kāšānī sana 946.

Except for thy threshold, there is no refuge for me in all the world. Except for this door, there is no resting-place for my head. The work of a servant of the court, Maqsud of Kashan. Year 946 Hijri.

Translating this date into the Christian calendar shows that the carpet was woven around the years 1539–40 during the reign of Shah Tahmasp, one of the great patrons of carpet weaving.

The design of the central medallion resembles that of the interior side of the dome of the Sheikh Lotfollah Mosque in Isfahan, with two differently sized lamp motifs surrounding the design, now seen as a deliberate use of graphical perspective; when looked at from the end with the smaller lamp, the two appear the same size. However, a debate exists due to the fact that there is no proof that graphical perspective was used in 1530s Iran and other historians and critics instead believe the lamps are ones found in mosques or shrines at the time. The border is created from cartouches filled with decorations and calligraphy, adding even more details to the already accomplished style.