Garden Carpet
Second half of the 18th century
Cotton (warp and weft), wool (pile), asymmetric knotted pile
Iran, Kurdistan
Currently in the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Plants held a place of great importance in Islamic culture. Gardens were another way in which Islamic culture could celebrate plants. This carpet was woven in such a way that it represents the layout of an Islamic garden, both in form and in the stylized plants that fill each of the shapes in the carpet.
Islamic gardens were much more advanced as compared to European gardens around the 13th and 14th century (Adams, 67). Persian gardens were used oases from the desert, showing the fertility of the land. There were often pools of water to create a juxtaposition against the dry land. Stylized versions of gardens were often woven into carpets, especially royal carpets (Thacker, 28).
This carpet can be seen dividing the composition into four rectangles that are longer than they are wide. There is a central rectangle that appears to represent some sort of stylized pavilion, which was a popular structure in Persian gardens. The composition is exactly symmetric across the vertical axis and nearly symmetrical across the horizontal axis. Stylized flowers are shown throughout the carpet, further evoking the notion of the garden. The entirety of the carpet is framed by a decorative band, alluding to an enclosed garden.
While this carpet is seen as decorative, it does demonstrate that gardens were prevalent in Islamic society. Within gardens, flowers were important as decoration. This carpet is important in showing that the Islamic obsession with flowers and vegetal motifs translated into many different art forms.
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