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Azerbaijani carpets / TABRIZ GROUP
The plot depicted on this carpet is devoted to Hafiz’s collection of poems. Hafiz’s poems revolve around amorous stories:
a girl goes to meet a boy.
On the carpet, which has images of a girl and a boy in every corner, love appears as the main topic. Even the animals are
depicted as couples of male and female.
The middle field of the carpet is very rich and lively. Horsemen, two fellows chatting, rich natural views of flowers, trees,
and a river are all depicted.
The two fellows standing face-to-face are reminiscent of the game “Chovkan,” which has a very old history.
At the same time, birds drinking water at the riverbank are depicted. The women on the carpet are hunting small birds
and the men are hunting dragons, deer, boar, and an ox.
Depicted as tender creatures, women perform the easy tasks and men the hard tasks, as they are taller and stronger. The
men have arrows, spears, and swords. Two greyhounds, one black and the other grey, are depicted in front the two hunt-
ing horsemen.
On the main border, hunting, bird-catching, and horse-riding women and men are repeatedly depicted.
On the upper left corner of the main border, a man hunting a gazelle with a spear is depicted and on the lower left corner,
a woman appears. On the right lower and upper areas, there are depictions of horsemen chasing down their hunt and a
woman holding a young gazelle at her bosom.
In the upper area of the center, there is a depiction of a woman hunting and in the lower section there is a herald and a
woman carving the hunt. The main border is surrounded by brown minor borders and the minor borders are surrounded
by madakhils of the same color.
All the borders are surrounded by brown “su” (water).
The carpet weaving utilized the colors of black, red, brick red, ivory, white, blue, light green, brown, light brown, pink,
and grey.
By repeating the colors of the middle field on the border, the weaver achieved a special color harmony and created a
spectacular color arrangement. The soft neutral colors are combined with the contrast colors and make the composition
vivacious.
Repetition of calming elements on the main and minor borders draws attention to the magnificent execution of the color
arrangement.
The carpet is in perfect condition. It has artistic, historic, and scientific importance. The carpet’s pile is woolen and its wrap
and weft are made of cotton.
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