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The Emperor's Carpet

second half 16th century
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 462
One of the finest products of the Safavid court ateliers, this carpet once adorned the summer residence of the Habsburg emperors. The main field balances a sophisticated net of floral scrolls, large composite palmettes, cloud bands, buds, and blossoms with a myriad of real and fictional animals—dragons and Chinese antelope, lion and buffalo, tigers and leopards, ducks and pheasants. A verse found in the inner guard band likens a garden in springtime to the Garden of Paradise.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Emperor's Carpet
  • Date: second half 16th century
  • Geography: Attributed to Iran
  • Medium: Silk (warp and weft), wool (pile); asymmetrically knotted pile
  • Dimensions: Rug:
    L. 299 in. (759.5 cm)
    W. 133 1/2 in. (339.1 cm)
    Wt. on a 10" tube: 144 lbs. (65.3 kg)
  • Classification: Textiles-Rugs
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1943
  • Object Number: 43.121.1
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

More Artwork

More Artwork
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'Lotto' Carpet, Wool (warp, weft and pile); symmetrically knotted pile
'Lotto' Carpet
16th century
The Anhalt Medallion Carpet, Cotton (warp), silk (weft), wool (pile); asymmetrically knotted pile
The Anhalt Medallion Carpet
probably first half 16th century
Silk Kashan Carpet, Silk (warp, weft and pile); asymmetrically knotted pile
Silk Kashan Carpet
16th century
Carpet, Silk (warp and weft), wool (pile); asymmetrically knotted pile
Carpet
16th century
Fragment of a Northwest Persian Medallion Carpet, Cotton (warp), wool (weft and pile); asymmetrically knotted pile
Fragment of a Northwest Persian Medallion Carpet
early 16th century

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