Carpets with illustrations for literary works were especially beloved in the inner market . Most often and most actively illustrated were the most famous plots from the poems Shah-name by Ferdowsi and Khamsa by Nizami . For example , the carpet presented at the exhibition is the scene of Khosrov and Shirin ’ s feast . The heroes are depicted in full growth ; their figures occupy the entire central field of the carpet . Such a choice of several and more often of one character is not accidental and became a sign of the carpets of the XIX century . The Qajar epoch is the time of active development of portrait painting , the influence of which was comprehensive . Portraits appeared on lacquer cases , glass and ceramic vessels ... Carpets were no exception . A composition with one central character could include both images of historical heroes ( for example , a carpet with a portrait of Anushirvan the Magnificent and Abbas the Great , presented at the exhibition ), and members of active dynasties .
In the second half of the XIX century , compositions were often copied from photographs . In this context , a carpet with a portrait of the last Shah of the Qajar dynasty , Ahmad Shah ( 1909-1925 ), is important . The young monarch is shown sitting in a chair in ceremonial clothes : he looks at the viewer as he would do it , posing for a photographer . Interestingly , the carpet was made in Karabakh , outside Iran . Karabakh craftsmen often worked based on the tastes and requirements of customers .
See a collection of carpets in the slideshow
collectors gave their ideas and requests to Persian masters . As a result of replication , artistic schemes became familiar and were perceived as authentic . In other words , European ideas about oriental art also became Persian , transforming the sphere of export the Qajar crafts into a complex fusion of the real and the ideal , the traditional and the imported . The phenomenon of the Qajar art and culture as a whole is in the unity of the thematic and stylistic canvas of works , in an absolutely recognizable original manner , the same for all areas of application of artistic forces : from ceremonial portraits to tiles and lacquer boxes . Bright and decorative , popular prints , sometimes balancing on the verge of kitsch , works in the Qajar style illustrate an attempt to combine the incongruous as progress and tradition , Europeanization and originality . The carpets , which were originally designed both for export and for the tastes of the local market , have become the most revealing link in this process .
Their design , especially figurative compositions , can be conditionally divided into several categories : imitation of Safavid carpets , historical and mythological portraits , literary plots , copies of ancient reliefs .
The appeal to ornaments of the Safavid epoch ( 1501-1722 ), the time of the highest heyday of carpet weaving in Iran , seemed to be oriented towards the tastes of Western buyers . Floral arrangements and hunting scenes were often reproduced from sketches and catalogues , and the products themselves were subjected to additional artificial aging .
However , the Qajar masters did not stop at single portraits and went further , creating whole multi-figure compositions . The artists of Kerman were famous for these items . Perhaps they were inspired by European items . On their basis , for example , a composition with the image of the great people of the world was developed . By analogy with it , another composition was created . It is presented at the exhibition as 108 shahs of Iran . It opens with the ruler Kayumars , the legendary father of the people of antiquity , who was described in the poem Shah-name by Ferdowsi . The list ends with the already mentioned Ahmad Shah , the last representative of the Qajar dynasty . The rulers of the late XIX-early XX centuries copied from photographs , some , the most famous , reproduced from existing historical publications , and the appearance of the majority depended on the artist ’ s personal decision .
Another area of inspiration for the Kerman craftsmen was the great past of Persia . Ancient reliefs were reproduced on carpets . The rise in interest in the famous dynasties of antiquity , especially the Achaemened , was partly due to the imperial claims of the shahs , who wanted to legitimize their power . It was also due to the research of European archaeologists , who studied the monuments in the region of Shiraz .
The carpet art of Iran of the Qajar epoch , without exaggeration , can be considered as the most characteristic and indicative area which absorbed all trends of its time as Eurocentrism and admiration for the national past , the rise of the portrait genre , the brightness and popularity of images . The active participation of Western capitals and tastes in the formation of certain industrial areas led to the creation of products that can be considered as a kind of Iranian masters ’ view on their artistic tradition through the eyes of Europeans .
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