The Typology and Categorization of Illustrated Carpets in Shah Tahmasb’s Shahnameh

In the Safavid period, along the growth of other arts, carpet was manufactured as a valuable product, by support of the patrons, while the period was known as the golden age of design, pattern, color and carpet production. Above all, the Persian painting, applying the illustration of dominant literary subjects, is constantly known as one of the fields, suitable for an artistic challenge. Shah Tahmasb’s Shahnameh is a highly influential issue in the realm of painting of Iranian historical periods which has been performed by the most professional artists. The present illustrated versions of Persian painting embody different concepts that have been elaborated by taking advantage of prevalent elements of the daily life. Shah Tahmasb’s Shahnameh which is known as one of the jewels of Persian painting of the mentioned period, having an expanded variety of unique features, is a proper domain to represent the artistic issues in a gorgeous way, and besides, the carpets play an important role in the composition and decoration. As a conclusion, the Persian carpets in the different versions of shahnameh, are considered as part of subjects, applied by artists in order to make relevant illustrations and are alike the elements of their own periods. However, it seems that illustrations of some existent illustrated carpets in the Shah Tahmasb’s Shahameh have their own principles in Iranian paintings.
Shah Tahmasb’s Shahnameh is considered as a magnificent art work of early Safavid Miniature School (Tabriz II).  Interwoven by the two main miniature schools of Herat and Turkmens, this masterpiece includes 258 illustrations. The main design elements of each illustration in Shah Tahmasb’s Shahnameh include natural scenery, battle and festivity scenes, mythical tales, Iranian architectural buildings and carpets.
Abundance of the carpets that are figured and illustrated in the mentioned version of Shahnameh, and also the historical period of it, which are supreme factors in the production of handmade carpets, demonstrate the importance of them. Therefore, the main issue in the present research is to conduct a study on the total pattern of illustrated carpets in Shah Tahmasb’s Shahnameh and to scrutinize on the figures and elements used in it which have been performed in order to reach a collection of categorized data about the carpets in terms of the structural aspects of design and illustration in Iranian carpets. At last, it will present a possibility to have a comparison on the outcomes of this research, on the carpets of the Safavid period. Thus, these are the main questions of the research:

What are the features of illustrations and elements in the represented carpets of Shah Tahmasb’s Shahnameh?
How are the diversities and categorizations of designs in the represented carpets of Shah Tahmasb’s Shahnameh?

The research method is descriptive-analytical with the pattern and design morphology approach and the data are analyzed qualitatively. The information about the identification and historical background of the illustrations of Shahnameh is gathered through library research. The study cases totally include 80 samples, out of which 14 samples in five categories (3 samples in the category of Overall Flower carpets, 2 samples in the category of Lachak Medallion, 3 samples in the category of Medallion, 3 samples in the category of Panel patterns and 3 samples in the category of patternless field designs) have been purposively selected for the analysis.
   According to the general categorization and features of each rank, the details and compounds have been considered and analyzed in the whole studies, and analyses are based upon the rules and principles of Iranian carpet which is adherent to the traditional designing principles of Iranian art. To have more understanding and observation about the mentioned carpets, the linear patterns of all the samples have been prepared and all the analyses are based upon them. The results demonstrate that the carpets available in the Shah Tahmasb’s Shahnameh are under the effect of a desire to fantasy and enthusiasm of the Turkmens school (which appears in Overall Flower carpets) and the original and meticulous style of Herat (demonstrated itself in framed carpets and Kufic margins). Generally, the carpets illustrated in the Shah Tahmasb’s Shahnameh are the fruits of imagination of the artists who their main concern was to represent the chief concept that they were focusing on, which is to illustrate different topics of Shahnameh beside the reflection of magnificence of the art protectors. Above all, the general construction of carpets conforms to those that remained from that period. The value of the carpets is so predominant, beside the other arts like music, architecture, handicrafts and etc. The illustrations are committed to the carpet weaving traditions of Iran and they construct significant parts of the illustrations, related to the dexterity of the artist, as if they have a decorative function and they cannot be assumed as remained carpets from the Safavid era.