Detailed Product Description

Tabriz, capital of the north western Iranianprovince of Azerbaijan, has for centuries enjoyed a great reputation asa centre of Oriental culture. The vicissitudes of its history, itsdevelopment from a naturally favoured oasis at the foot of the volcanoSahand, to the commercial centre today, and descriptions of its artistsand craftsmen could fill many volumes. The origins of the town stretchfar back into antiquity. Genghiz Khan (c.1162-1227), Timur (1336-1405)and Shah Ishmail I (1501-1524), the founder of the Safavid dynasty, allconquered this fulcrum between east and west and made it into one ofthe great cities of their empires. But it was in Shah Abbas the Great(1586-1628) that Tabriz found its most cultured patron. Wars and severenatural catastrophes such as devastation by earthquake have neveroverwhelmed the town and its people over the centuries. In the MiddleAges, Tabriz saw a blossoming of the fine arts which influenced thedevelopment of carpet design. Manuscript illuminators, silkembroiderers, miniature painters and metal workers all inspired thecarpet weavers. The early 18th century saw the end of the SafavidEmpire and the decline of the town. Craftmanship fell into decay. WhenHeinrich Jacobi of Berlin set up his Persian carpet manufacturingcompany (Petag) in Tabriz in 1911, only an insignificant number of thetraditional wool colours and carpet patterns led to a renaissance ofweaving in the town.

This excellent example has its stylistic roots in the Safavidperiod and looks very much like a textile of the time. It is in fact acarpet with four corner pieces and a hunting scene on the main field.It is executed to a remarkably fine quality. The fields about its fourmain axes have finely drawn figures on animals hunting on their prey.The extremely artistic central medallion shows the rays of the sun,encircled by hunting animals.