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Ardabil Carpet

The '''Ardabil Carpet''' ('''Ardebil Carpet''') is either of a pair of two famous Persian carpets in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Completed during the rule of the Safavid Shah Tahmasp I in the mid-16th century, probably in Tabriz, the carpets are considered some of the best of the classical Persian school of carpet creation. They were first placed in a mosque in Ardabil, but they had become heavily worn in Iran and were sold in 1890 to a United Kingdom|British carpet broker who restored one of the carpets using the other and then resold it to the Victoria and Albert Museum. William Morris, then an Peer review|art referee for the V&A, was instrumental in the acquisition. The second "secret" carpet, smaller, now borderless, and made up from the remaining usable sections, was sold to American businessmen Clarence Mackay and was exchanged by wealthy buyers for years. Passing through the Mackay, Charles Yerkes|Yerkes, and De la Mare art collections, it was eventually revealed and shown in 1931 at an exposition in London. American industrialist J. Paul Getty saw it, and bought it from Lord Duveen for approximately ,000 several years later. Getty was approached by agents on behalf of King Farouk of Egypt who offered 0,000 so that it could be given as a wedding present. Getty later donated the carpet to the Museum of Science, History, and Art in the Exposition Park (Los Angeles)|Exposition Park in Los Angeles. This most famous of Persian carpets has been the subject of endless copies ranging in size from small rugs to full scale carpets. There is an 'Ardabil' at 10 Downing Street and even Hitler had an 'Ardabil' in his office in Berlin. The foundation is of silk with wool pile of a knot density at 300-350 knots per square inch (470-540.000 knots per square metres, i.e. 26 million total knots). The size of the London carpet is 34 1/2 feet by 17 1/2 feet ( 10,5 metres x 5,3 metres). The carpets have an inscription: a couplet from a ghazal by Persian mythic poet Hafez and a signature.

References

External links

- The Ardabil Carpet at the Victoria & Albert Museum
- The Ardabil Carpet at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Category:Persian rugs Category:Textile arts Category:History of Iran Category:Collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum

Related Images

- The Ardabil Carpet, Persia, dated 946 AH. V&A Museum no. 272-1893. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Sources: StartLearningNow, Wikipedia | Usage license: GNU FDL

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