Ardabil carpet

One of the most famous Persian carpets with a central medallion is the Ardabil carpet. It was made during the first 20 years of the Safavid dynasty. (c. 1539) Its beautiful colors and the extraordinary fineness of the weft (the basis of the carpet) rank it among the greatest masterpieces in the known history of carpet knotting. In the 19th century, the British company Ziegler bought it in Iran and brought it to London, where it was sold to the Victoria & Albert Museum for the then 2,000 pounds. The carpet measures 11.52 meters in length and 5.34 meters in width and has as many as 517,000 knots per square meter of surface. The main threads are silk, while the knots are wool. Opinions are divided about the place where the carpet was made. Some experts believe that it was made on the order of Shah Tahmas in the city of Ardabil in western Iran. Others believe the carpet was made in Mashhad in northeastern Iran for the shrine of Imam Reza.

Sava

Sava