Textiles & Costume
Royal Carpet with Silk and Metal Thread
TextileMetalwork
Details
- Author / creator
- Iran, Isfahan, Safavid period (1501-1722)
- Object type
- Textile
- Date or period
- 1600–1625
- Dimensions summary
- Overall: 236.2 × 143.5 cm
- Place of origin
- Iran
- Acquisition method
- Purchase
- Credit line
- Purchased with the Ashcombe City Council acquisitions budget, 1926
- Fibres
- Silk
- Cotton
- Metal thread
- Structure
- Pile (knotted)
- Image rights
- Public domain (CC0)
About this object
The Safavid dynasty was the greatest dynasty from Iran in the Islamic period. Similarly, woven textiles and carpets from this period are some of the best produced in the region. Royal workshops produced luxurious textiles, like this one, to furnish the royal court. Expertly woven silks were highly prized by the Iranian elite but were also produced for export to the European aristocracy.
Materials and technique
Cotton: warp; cotton and silk: wefts; silk: pile, asymmetrical knot; gilt- and silver-metal thread: brocaded
