persian motifs

final major projectpersian motifs anoosha tadghighi

Anoosha TadghighiKolbehWoodhouse AveAlmondsburyBristolBS324HTTel: 07967326569E-mail; [email protected]

2012 Anoosha TadghighiPublished in 2012

persian motifs

contents

introduction

animal motifsZeebaFaribaAfsaneh

herati motifsAraGoliSara

vase motifsLalehNasrinFarah

medallion motifs ShabnamMinooAzar

tree motifsSoussanArezooNegar

terminology

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final major projectpersian motifs

anoosha tadghighi

introduction

At a quick glance, Persian rugs are noticed for their rich colours and intricate designs, it is not until you delve deeper into the history behind the work that you realise there are a number of distinct designs, which originate from villages all over Iran. Spe-cific rules and functions apply to each design and have devel-oped over centuries of cultural changes in Iran. Some designs have been carried across bor-ders whilst others initiate from smaller villages in central Persia. From elusive floral designs to mythical birds, Persian rugs depict magnificent scenes of what could perhaps only be described as dream like environments. At a glance each intertwining stem

and diamond shaped medallion are aesthetically appealing, but the history behind each design offers an even richer story.

This book has been created as a catalogue of the motifs created under ATadghighi Designs. The information aims to give a brief history of the different types of designs found in Persian rugs, which have been great influences on the motifs that run throughout this book. ATadghighi motifs were created under the rules and elements of the original Persian designs. Within the text they are compared and discussed to cre-ate a deeper understanding into why particular design decisions were made during the creative

process. A reflective trait with Persian rugs is that their designs indicate the location in which they were created. The motifs seen in this book have been created with this element in mind, particularly underlying a balance between traditional Iranian designs yet drawing upon 21st Century mini-malism.


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animal motifs


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animal motifs

Several pictorial elements are commonly associated with Persian illustrations. Images of foliage are most frequently seen on rugs and within Persian art. Stepping into the field of portray-ing human and animal kind was a rarity within the Persian art world. The use of a human figure in art was greatly discouraged by Muslims, although not stated in the Qur’an, but in the Hadith, and had since been a long tradition in Islam. Islamic authoritative fig-ures believed it to be inaccurate to draw the figures present in the Hadith as they could but be envi-sioned as completely accurate in accordance to the writings of the Prophet Muhammad. Both Islamic sects played a big

part in the way in which Persian carpets were designed. It was not until works that were created for the Ottomon courts were manufactured that animals and people started to show on car-pets. This was mostly due to the fact that their viewers were most commonly not at conservative as those who followed the religious rules more strictly. Common depictions found in the traditional animal carpets were of hunting scenes, depicting horse-men with spears hunting other animals. These carpets are now known as Qum, and are most commonly found in Isfahan, Ver-amin and Kerman. Occasionally, the images were placed around a medallion but most often the

animals and human figures were not placed symmetrically.The Persian coat of arms became a regularly featured motif on many Persian carpets prior to the 1979 Revolution. The Lion,sun and sword symbol appeared commonly on geomet-ric carpets.

Many cultures embrace the image of the bird as an important character within folklore and mythology. Birds and animals were incorporated into a series of rugs such as the Ghurian and the tribal rugs in the villages of Afshar. The bird motif commonly symbolises flight, freedom and the concept of good news being brought from far away. A com-

mon bird, which can be associ-ated more often with the Ghurian carpets, is the Chicken (‘Morgh’) which is said to ward off the ‘evil eye’. The most common bird seen in Persian art is the Huma, a bird which is said to never come down to rest and spends its entire life in the sky.

The motifs, which can be seen in this book, are modern represen-tations of the images knotted into Persian carpets. The engravings solely focus on birds and foliage that was most popular in art created in early Safavid Persia, most commonly seen in Persian miniatures. A common occur-rence in these pieces was the

positioning of the birds on the canvas. It was as if the images were photographs in motion, taken of birds just as they were taking flight. Their positioning of open wings and elongated tails proved a popular character-istic in miniature paintings. On carpets, the birds often were portrayed as static, surrounded by trees and plants. Due to the level of detail needed for each animal and human, the rugs were most commonly larger in scale to accommodate and fairly represent the image on display. This was also taken into account to accommodate the ability of the laser cutter when carving into stone. On a smaller scale, these images

would have to be spaced on the material as the closer the lines were together, the higher the chance of breaking the stone. The engraving needed to be deep but not thick, which allowed room to keep the motifs as detailed as possible.


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fariba

afsaneh

herati motifs


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herati motifs

Over the past 2500 years the design of Persian rugs has evolved alongside the expansion and contraction of the Iranian borders. The most widely spread Persian rug called the Herati, named after the town of Herat, which is now one of the largest cities in Pakistan. Up until 1857 the city remained an important part of the Persian Empire, and was a main vessel of culture for central Asia. During the sixteenth century the city was home to the developmental stages of the Persian carpet, in which time the three most popular styles; vase, floral and Herati were estab-lished. Specifically the Herati was developed in the first half of the sixteenth century by tribes

of Khorassan. The influence of Turkish decent is very appar-ent in the earlier rugs. A strong geometric floral shape creates a style of tribal rugs rather than early Persian decent.Over time, the design evolved with floral features. Stylistically, the Herati design is known for its individual diamond designs, which align on the rug. The centred flower can be looked at as a medallion, but if focused on closely, it’s off bal-anced position creates a different image altogether. Using Laleh as an example, what seems to be the focal point of the images is actually off base to the surround-ing branches. Although this may seem like a mistake, when the

viewer focuses on the exterior detail, they can see a mirrored image, which connects each piece accordingly. It can be said that the Herati design differs from other rug patterns due to its non-conformity to geometric patterns.To expand on this notion, both Goli and Sara were created as focus points as if a Herati design was dissected to show its rules. By leaving the motif open the viewer becomes aware of the space surrounding it. Goli and Sara are the result of stripping back the detail of a full Herati design to show the main element of the design, this celebrating the non-geometric structureThe Herati structure itself is very similar to the vase carpets; the

difference can be seen in the connection between the flower and the surrounding pattern. In a Herati carpet, the flower will connect to the rest of the design through branches and flower stalks. This way of interlinking the design means that there are no finishing edges, all main branch-es are interlinked and therefore causing a surrounding border. The motif Ara has been designed with this rule in mind. The main branches surrounding the flower have been connected to form a band. Particular features, which are installed in the Herati design, are the spiked elongated leaves that wrap around the path like branches. Floral decoration is

used as a branch divider or to end a stalk. The most common flower seen in these images are usually Tulips or lotuses, symbol-ising prosperity and immortality. These flowers are very common not only in Persian rugs but in miniatures. They are featured heavily in each motif in this book, when the lotus and tulip is not as dominate; another common motif, blossom, is present. When structuring these motifs, I paid particular attention to the layout of each flower; the sixteenth century Herati carpets influenced their forms. Lotuses and tulips could stand at a single flower from one single root, or they can act as a connecting path between the branches. In Goli we see four

branches leaving the centred piece, their forms are very much influenced by the ‘tree of life’ motif, which is used regularly in rugs.


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vase motifs


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vase motifs

The vase design can be described as the most defin-able Persian rug as it displays a starting point from which the branches and flowers initiated, in contrast to the designs such as Herati, where the branches just form. Originally vase designs were influenced by early twenti-eth century Chinese vase art. As the concept began to be incorpo-rated in Persian art, the vase lost its functional purpose of holding just single flowers and became more of an elaborate design from which a tree of life motif which sprout from and spread across the rug. The vases themselves were more elusive, although drawn with the right form and function of a flower vase; their

purposes were quite superficial. The design reflects on one of the common characteristics of a Per-sian rug, that being it’s elaborate design, the vase simply acts as a central point from where the branches derive. The most common vase design is called the Zul-I-Sultan and is said to have derived from Isfahan in the nineteenth century. The vase is repeated across the rug with branches intertwining between them. The initial Zul-I-Sultan design was geometric in appearance, this is the most classical vase design and the bold rigid shapes can be seen in all types of Persian carpets. A pattern which derived from Zul-I-Sultan incorporate a pair of

birds between the floral twining’s, this pattern is called Gol-o-bolbol (rose and nightingale). This deco-rative theme was most commonly known as a literary metaphor for perfection and beauty. The rose although beautiful, is cruel due to it’s thorns and the nightingale symbolises devotion due to its endless singing. This is one of the many examples of literary symbolisms being transferred into Persian artwork. Gol-o-bolbol can be seen twice in the motif Laleh. There are several ways of incorporating a vase into the rugs, the geometric version is most typically known as Afshari. The motifs seen in this book are influenced by the Kerman

style in which the flowers are sprayed across the image rather than placed in alignment with strong geometric definition. This allowed the image to have an unrestrained form; I included flowers that were formed using curved vector lines giving a more realistic impression.Much like the Herati design, the branches carry similar char-acteristics; interlacing flowers, usually lilies and lotuses, usually connect the branches. In Afshari designs, the vase is usually placed at the bottom of the rug, as opposed to many other styles where the main image is centred. The overall design is custom placed according to the shape of the rug. The image is always

surrounded by a border and commonly topped with a crown like shape. The vase and its protruding branches are usually surrounded by smaller floral and stem connections leaving little space on the rug itself. Although Laleh was created to replicate this rule, both Nasrin and Farah consisted of only vase and main stemming branches. This refers back to the earlier Persian vase designs, which derived from the original Chinese influences. The vases themselves were thought-fully drawn out so that they had a level of ambiguity, they are not formed in the classic vase shape where one can see a neck pro-trude from the base, but much like the mystic element of Persian

rugs, the object is unconventional in appearance.


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nasrin


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medallion motifs


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medallion design

Due to the lack in historical information, the floral medallion design in Persian carpets is hard to trace back. Through till the sixteenth century, the medallion was not recorded as a carpet design. It is possible that Egyptian tapestries influence the floral design and even tile work, which can be seen on the architecture of Iran, and it’s neighbouring countries. The only evidence of the carpets being used can be seen in paintings. The earliest paintings, which give evidence to this, are by miniature paintings created by calligraphers such as Mir Ali. What can be seen in these paintings are rugs designs that consisted of repeating panels and octagonal shapes, perhaps

the developing design of a medal-lion. What made the medallion so unique was it’s curvilinear appearance, which differed enormously from the geometric structures that were seen in Persian rugs, and their centred position on the rug. What is said to be the home of the medallion carpet is Isfahan in the sixteenth century. A striking feature of the Isfahan medallion carpet is the roundness of each segment and it’s subdivided features such as a centred star or compass design, this centred feature can be seen in Shabnam and Minoo. The design is thoughtfully laid our unlike the unruly branches which can be seen in the vase designs.

The leaves and flowers within the design are usually called ‘Shah Abbas Palmettes’ named after the sixteenth century leader. The Chinese lotus flower is also a common entity of Persian car-pets. The stalks leading around the medallion are called ‘Islimis’. Usually a well-structured medal-lion will have these on its end. To maintain a level of symmetry, the Islimis will either be ended or turn back on themselves. When discussing the colour palette of the medallion, shading is crucial to highlighting the order of impor-tance and not allowing the image to become overwhelmingly busy in appearance. The image is usu-ally coloured in blues, creams and vermilion giving a rich and

striking presence which Persian rugs are commonly associated with. A circular medallion is the most common type, but the scale is large and many assortments of shapes and sizes can be seen on carpets, the intricacy usu-ally means that the most detailed medallion carpets are limited in numbers. The medallions content can also differ, most commonly this can be in relation to the town in which the carpet was created. Floral designs from the town of Nain are traditionally less articu-late than those made in Isfahan, the design is often based on a path of branches and flowers, this was a particular influence when designing Shabnam.

Shorter and less flowery medal-lions are reminiscent of the Isfahan style but relate back to original geometric designs, motifs such as Azar are influenced by this style, with the bold sharp shapes which form in the centre of the medallion. Designs, which strongly relate to the geometric form, are usually associated with the rugs made in the village of Faradonbeh. Due to the strong angular structure, the design is incredibly difficult to form with yarn.A popular feature seen in the medallions is the double lined form, which creates a division between the form and the rest of the rug design. Usually, like all Persian rugs, branches and

stems surround the medallion. Designs such as Shabnam, Minoo and Azar were stripped back of the surrounding entities so that a sole focus could be placed on the medallion. By doing this, the viewer is able to focus on the key element of what makes a floral medallion rug. Although stems and branches are an important element of the Persian rug, by stripping it back we can see the medallion in a different form.


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shabnam


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tree motifs


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tree motifs

The symbolic tree form is present in several categories of Persian rug designs. As seen previously, a tree-like illustration is shown in vase, animal and medallion designs but a carpet, which solely focuses on the tree, is fre-quently referred to as the ‘Tree of Life’. The Tree of life is most com-monly attached to both religious and mythological concepts, in the case of the Persian tree of life it can be linked to Islamic descent. The idea is to depict the world’s axis as a tree with many layers referring to elements such as the Sky and Earth. When combining the theory of the tree of life with its associa-tion to Iran, the design must be

based on its appearance perhaps rather than it’s history. The tree became an elusive and rather mythical image, filled with exotic birds and flowers, a rare sight in the stony desert of Persia. A common characteristic of the tree design is its shape on the rug. More often than not, the tree’s branches are spread across the whole rug until it reaches the outer border. The design is usually crammed with elaborate floral illustrations and occasionally animals. The thicker branches lay refer-ence to the Luri design, a bold geometric tree structure created by one of the oldest tribes in Iran, the Lurs. This design, being one of the first tree structures, makes

a bolder and minimalistic state-ment with the sharp and rather unrealistic image, rather than designing a more intricate and crowded design.Negar was created to make a balance between the symmetri-cal attributes and foliage within tree designs. By incorporating defined geometric shapes such as the circles, the design aims to put a twist on traditional rules. The interlinked branches and leaves entwine within the geo-metric shape to create harmony between new and old rules. Negar was inspired by the clean layout and use of bold shapes that were used in the Luri design. The Kerman design can be referred to as the adapted tree

design due to it’s richly illustrated design, every part of the rug is covered in flowing branches and leaves which all connect.Soussan has been created as a diamond shaped stencil with indefinite finishing points, creating a bold statement. The pattern aims to embrace the original concepts of leaf art, but works to reduce the compact design found on most Kerman designs. As a paper cut, it works well to form a balance between space and pattern. Arezoo was formed a similar set of rules to Soussan. The spiral-ling branches create symmetry and is visually, more dominating curves. They key feature with this design is the limitation in branch-

es and leaves, so commonly seen in Persian tapestry. The design focuses more on the balance between the branches, creating a very versatile piece.It was important to not take away the intricacy of a tree design, so with Arezoo, the pattern became more about emphasising the twisted branches rather than the additional features of animals and foliage.Having the motifs in this book stand alone without surrounding foliage was a way of balanc-ing the different types of tree designs. I wanted to incorporate the amount of space seen in the Luri design with the intricate detail of the Kerman. The main rules are present; each branch

is connected to one another by the use of foliage or strong geometric shapes to create one elusive and modern tribute to the tree design.


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soussan

arezoo


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terminology

afsharA tribe in Iran and Afghanistan

gol-o-bolbolRose and nightingale reference to

stories in Persian literature.

heratiFloral medallion Persian rug

humaA legendary bird in Iranian

mythology.

kermanFloral design on Persian rug

luriGeometric tree design on Persian rug developed by the Lur tribe in

Western Iran

morghChicken in Farsi

qumHunting scene on Persian rug

safavidArt of the Persian Safavid

dynasty influenced by Turkish culture.

shah abbas palmettesFloral and leaf design within the

medallion shape of a Persian rug, named after the sixteenth century

leader; Shah Abbas.

zul-i-sultanA repeat pattern on a Persian

vase rug. Commonly known for it’s geometric shape.

terminology

afsanehFairytale

araDecoration

arezooWish

azarFire

farahJoy

faribaEnticing

goliRose

lalehTulip

minooParadise

nasrinWild flower


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negarsweet

saraPure

shabnamDew

soussanLily of the valley

zeebaBeautiful

persian motifs

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