Стр. 10 - Azərbaycan xalçaları

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to the same periods decorate museums and private collections in Azerbaijan and throughout the
world. As examples, one can cite several artifacts: carpets (held in London, Los Angeles, and Teh-
ran) with “Sheikh Safi” (also called “Ardabil”) compositions that represent highlights in the carpet
weaving field of the 16th century; steel armor, artistic shields, and artistic fabric held in the Kremlin
Armory (Moscow); themed embroidery and a themed carpet (16th century) decorating the Muse-
um of Applied Arts (Budapest); an artistic plate (16th – 17th centuries) preserved in the private col-
lection of Debenhams in New York; an artistic plate (17th century) held in the private collection of
Tabbah Jewelers in New York; themed velvet (16th century) on display in the Museum of Fine Arts
in Boston; a Karabakh carpet (17th century) in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
in New York; artistic fabrics and an artistic plate (16th century) in the Victoria and Albert Museum
(London); artistic fabric and a themed carpet (16th century) on display in the Museum of Decora-
tive Arts in Paris; steel armor and the belt buckle of Shah Ismayil Khatai on display in the Topkapi
Palace Museum (Istanbul); and a “Namazlyk” (Prayer) carpet (16th century), an artistic vase (16th
– 17th centuries), and an ornamental carpet (16th century) in the National Museum of Iran (Tehran).
Shah Tahmasib was taught by the great master, Sultan Mahammad. Shah Tahmasib made an
amazing contribution to the development of Tabriz group carpets as a carpet artist. Tahmasib
made sketches for several carpets and artistic embroideries when he was young. High quality car-
pets and fabrics woven on the basis of his sketches drawn in the palace workshops were donated
to temples, mosques, and holy places. History reveals that several rugs and silk fabric for curtains
that were designs by Shah Tahmasib were given to the Imam Huseyn Tomb in Karbala. Beautiful
rugs donated to the “Sheikh Safi” tomb inArdabil, as well as a rug and double-sided carpet-fabrics
presented to Imam Rza’s tomb in Mashhad are also considered the products of Shah Tahmasib’s
creativity. In addition, Shah Tahmasib wrote to Ottoman ruler Sultan Suleyman to express his
desire to give a gift carpet to a the Suleymanie mosque built in Istanbul by the architect Sina and
to request that the sizes of the mosque be sent to him. A little while later, a positive response was
received and those carpets were woven on time and sent to the mosque.
During the period of the Safavid, Ardabil was considered the second art center of the country
after Tabriz. The development of applied arts, especially carpet weaving, was widespread. This
fact is confirmed by the writings of a French traveler, Tavernye, who wrote after having visited the
ancient city, “Ardabil did not become famous by only its mausoleums; the development of trade,
silkworm breeding, and carpet weaving brought fame to this city as well.” Therefore, although
carpet weaving was done in many residential settlements of southern Azerbaijan, samples woven
here are also directly related to Ardabil in addition to Tabriz. Carpets included in art history as
“Tabriz group” are divided into Tabriz and Ardabil subgroups according to their artistic-technical
characteristics and compositions. The Tabriz group includes “Tabriz,” “Afshan,” “Four Seasons,”
“Bakhshayesh,” “Garaja,” “Gorevan,” and “Heris,” “Ovchulug” (Hunting), “Agajli” and “Lechek-
turunj” compositions. The Ardabil group includes “Ardabil,” “Sheikh Safi,” “Shah Abbasi,” “Sera-
bi,” “Zenjan,” “Mir,” and “Achma-yumma” varieties. In addition to pile-weave carpets, flat-weave
carpets with unique artistic-technical qualities were also woven there. Among flat-weave carpets
of the Tabriz group palas, kilim, verni, and zilli were most commonly woven. Jejim, verni, and
zilli were widespread in the Ardabil subgroup. Idolizing these samples, the Tabriz carpet weav-
ing school is also rich with many other assortments with similar compositions, ornament rhythms,
and color solutions. Among these, the classic examples include “Buta,” “Baliq” (Fish), “Leyla and
Majnun,” “Bag-behisht,” “Bag-meshe,” “Dervish,” “Ketebeli,” “Gordest,” “Gollu gushali,” “Gul-
danli,” “Meshahir,” “Mun,” “Namazlyk,” “Najagli,” “Sarvistan,” “Sardari,” “Sehend,” “Silsilavi
lechek,” “Farhad and Shirin,” “Khayyam,” “Khatai,” “Heddad,” “Charkhi-gul,” and “Jeyranli.”
As a result of the fame earned by Tabriz carpets, artists (especially painters) living and working in
Europe included them in the compositions of different themed tableaus. It is possible to encoun-
ter depictions of Tabriz carpets in “The Owner of the Shelter for Six Regents and Homeless Poor”
tableau drawn by seventeenth century Dutch painter Pieter Andreas and Michael van Muscher’s
“Thomas X with His Relative and Black Servant.” Well-known Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens’
“Triumphant Entry of Constantine into Rome” contains a depiction of a Tabriz rug of “Afshan”
composition. A woven sample of the “Khatai” variety grabs the attention in the “Supper at Em-
maus” work of well-known Italian painter Caravaggio. These examples demonstrate that these
carpets were valued and attracted great interest.
When Tabriz carpets come to mind, the first thing one visualizes are varieties of floral elements.
This artistic characteristic has become the identification sign of Tabriz carpets. It is clear that most
of the elements used on carpet assortments are stylized forms of what people saw around them in
reality and most of the time they took the shape of symbolized decorations. If one accepts that these
elements are symbols of people’s lives or views of life, then the ornaments and pattern elements,
which turned into sources of thought, are of a philosophical character. Taking into consideration
the prevalence of floral elements in the pattern design of carpets included in the Tabriz group, it is
natural that artistic images of cypress, pomegranates, willows, oak trees, and flowers such as roses,
tulips, carnations, daffodils, lilies, iris, water-lilies that were introduced by artists through styliza-
tion created memories linked with eternal philosophical values. The same conclusions could be