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12x15 Area Rugs
Four Gardens of Paradise Carpet 18' x 9'
Overview
Materials & Craftsmanship:
This fine, diligently hand-knotted area rug contains a perfect blend of 80% pure silk and 20% pure wool. Persian & Oriental rugs made from a high percentage of silk are intricate and are often the most valuable of all handmade carpets. The silk fibers in this piece create a beautiful sheen throughout the field and borders, providing an ultra luxurious feel. The use of silk ensures a precise rendering of the decorative design patterns since strong silk fibers permit skilled weavers to weave more knots per square inch (KPSI) than those of wool carpets. A typical Persian or Oriental rug made from wool might have between 100 and 300 KPSI - a typical 80% silk rug contains between 200 to 500 KPSI. As a result, weaving the rug will require roughly three times the amount of work, and this is one of the main reasons that silk rugs cost two to three times more than wool rugs. The detailing of this particular piece also contains wool, which increases its durability.
A Brief History of Garden of Paradise Rugs & Carpets
The word "paradaiza" comes from the ancient Zoroastrian language, Avesta. It is formed from the two root words, pairi and daeza, pairi meaning park and deaza meaning surrounded by walls. It is from this which the biblical concept of Eden is derived. The Qur'an also contains the idea of paradise, eternal happiness awaiting the devout Muslim after death.
A Timurid miniature, painted in 1430 and residing in the Museum of Decorative Arts, shows the legendary lovers Humay and Humayun finding themselves in such a garden. Pairs of cypress trees are more ancient symbols of paradise. In Iran, before the development of Islam, it was believed that the moon was a source of eternal life, its elixir contained in the sap of the moon tree-- usually represented as a cypress. The paradise gardens were vast game reserves where the game was saved for monarchs to practice their favourite sport, hunting. Inspired from the miniature, the garden, symbol of both earthly and heavenly delights, gave rise to a variety of carpet designs.
Most of the carpets with the Gardens of Paradise design are ornated with a central pendant medallion over a floral background and evoke the sight of a spring landscape. The design often contains cypress pairs , a blossoming prunus tree, fruit trees, birds and wild animals (both real and imagined)-- some animals represented in combat and others shown alone. It also frequently contains houris and, occasionally, musicians. The borders are decorated with finely designed and interlaced flowers and arabesques ornated with lotus flowers, pairs of birds and animals that are interwoven between streams of clouds or between motifs of repeated patterns. Many of these carpets, among which we find the Hatvany fragments, partially residing in the Los Angeles County Museum as well as in Berlin, are distinguished by the same light color background found in the miniature of Humay and Humayun.
Sources and inspiration: Bérinstain, Valérie, et al. L'art du tapis dans le monde (The art of carpets in the world). Paris: Mengès, 1996. Print.; Jerrehian Jr., Aram K.A. Oriental Rug Primer. Philadelphia: Running Press, 1980. Print.; Herbert, Janice Summers. Oriental Rugs, New York: Macmillan, 1982. Print.; Hackmack, Adolf. Chinese Carpets and Rugs, Rutland and Tokyo: Tuttle, 1980. Print. ; De Moubray, Amicia, and David Black. Carpets for the home, London: Laurence King Publishing, 1999. Print.; Jacobsen, Charles. Oriental Rugs A Complete Guide, Rutland and Tokyo: Tuttle, 1962. Print.; Bashir, S. (n.d.). Personal interview.; Web site sources and dates of consultation vary (to be confirmed). Without prejudice to official usage.
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