The central medallion is blue with a pattern of flowers and birds on a red ground, densely decorated with blossoming trees, dragons, wild beasts and various iconographic motifs.
The main border, with a light blue ground, presents the “Herati” motif, with palmettes alternating with paired sickle-shaped leaves enclosing a flower.
Art and literature were closely connected in the first Safavid period. Here the dark blue inner border contains a long inscription which praise the exceptional quality of the carpet.
The bright colours, the use of silk and metal thread and the decoration with floral and zoomorphic elements suggest to date this carpet to the second half of the sixteenth century. An interesting and unusual feature is the realistic design of the trees, since generally in Persian carpets they are more geometrical and stylized.
The carpet was acquired by Poldi Pezzoli in 1855.
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