ID: 700000129 Page link: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/cona/700000129	Record Type: Movable Work
Images: 1

Ardabil Carpet (carpet; Maqsud of Kashan (Persian, 16th century); 946 anno Hegirae (1540 CE); Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Los Angeles, Los Angeles c...; 53.50.2)

Note: The Ardabil carpet and its mate in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, are products of the great flowering of the arts, particularly those of textile and the book, under the Safavid rulers of Iran. The site of Ardabil in northwest Iran was sacred to these Shiite rulers; tradition holds that both carpets were presented to the shrine there as royal gifts, and current scholarship confirms this. Magnificent gifts to this shrine—an entire library of sacred and secular Islamic texts, a treasure of Ming dynasty porcelain, as well as lamps, silk brocades, and candlesticks—confirm the esteem in which these princes held it. Both versions of the carpet are signed and dated early in the reign of Shah Tahmasp I, a renowned patron of the arts, and were probably made in Tabriz, a site of royal textile manufacturing (r. 1524 - 1578). This carpet contains 35,000,000 knots and probably took eight to ten craftsmen more than three years to complete.

Titles:

Ardabil Carpet (preferred,C,U,D,RP,English-P,U,U)

Catalog Level: item

Work Types:

carpet [300185756] (preferred)

..... (Objects Facet, Furnishings and Equipment (hierarchy name), Furnishings (hierarchy name), furnishings (works), <furnishings by form or function>, coverings and hangings, <coverings and hangings by specific type>, <coverings and hangings by form>, rugs (textiles), <rugs by form>)

Classifications:

decorative arts (preferred)

Islamic art

textiles

Creation Date: 946 anno Hegirae (1540 CE)

Creator Display:

Maqsud of Kashan (Persian, 16th century) [preferred,VP]

Maqsud of Kashan (Iranian carpet weaver, active ca. 1540) [500125207]

Locations:

Current: Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Los Angeles, Los Angeles county, California, United States) [500217563] Corporate Bodies (Corp. Body)

Repository Numbers: 53.50.2

Credit Line: Gift of J. Paul Getty

Display Materials: pile is wool, in places both wool and silk; warp and weft are of cotton; knots are Turkish Ghiordes (symmetrical knots); outer border has been replaced

	wool (hair material) [300014074]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by origin>, biological material, animal material, keratinous material, <hair and hair components as materials>, hair (material), <hair by form as material>)

	silk (silkworm material) [300014072]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by origin>, biological material, animal material, fibroinous material)

	cotton (fiber) [300183670]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by form>, <materials by physical form>, <fiber and fiber by product>, fiber, natural fiber, plant fiber)

	weaving [300053642]
	.......(Activities Facet, Processes and Techniques (hierarchy name), <processes and techniques by specific type>, <additive and joining processes and techniques>, assembling (additive and joining process))

	symmetrical knots [300186806]
	.......(Objects Facet, Components (hierarchy name), components (objects parts), <components by specific context>, furnishings components, <coverings and hangings components>, rug components, knots (rug components))

Dimensions: 283 x 157 1/2 in. (718.82 x 400.05 cm); knot density around 325 knots per square inch

Cultures:

Persian (preferred)

Style/Period/Group/Movement:

	Safavid (Iranian Islamic styles ) [300021712] (preferred,N/A)
	.....(Styles and Periods Facet, Styles and Periods (hierarchy name), <styles| periods| and cultures by region>, Islamic World| The, <Islamic World dynastic styles and periods>, <Iranian Islamic styles and periods after the Mongols>)

General Subject:

utilitarian objects (preferred)

religion and mythology

Specific Subjects:

	lamps (lighting devices) [300037592]
	.....(Objects Facet, Furnishings and Equipment (hierarchy name), Furnishings (hierarchy name), furnishings (works), <furnishings by form or function>, lighting devices, <lighting devices by form>) (AAT)

	worship [300056005]
	.....(Associated Concepts Facet, Associated Concepts (hierarchy name), <religions and religious concepts>, religious concepts) (AAT)

	medallion (ornament area) [300077354]
	.....(Physical Attributes Facet, Design Elements (hierarchy name), design elements (attributes), ornament areas) (AAT)

Outside Iconography:

Code: Term:

Related Works:

	mate of .... Ardabil Carpet [700008814]
	..........carpet; unknown Persian; AH 946; 1539-1540 (made); Victoria and Albert Museum (London, Greater London, England,...; 272-1893

List/Hierarchical Position:

..... Movable Works

.......... Movable Works by class: decorative and utilitarian works

Sources and Contributors:
Ardabil Carpet	........ [VP]
	........ Los Angeles County Museum of Art online (2002)

Subject: ....... [VP]

Note:
English	..... [VP]
	..... Los Angeles County Museum of Art online (2002)