ARDABIL CARPET

either of two Persian floor coverings that are among the most famous examples of early classical Persian workmanship. The larger one measures 34 feet by 17.5 feet (10.4 by 5.3 m), and both carpets have a silk warp and wool pile. The carpets were completed in 153940, during the reign of the Safavid ruler Shah Tahmasp I (152476), and they were originally laid in the Mosque of Ardabil, in the Iranian province of Azerbaijan. Both carpets have a rich, exquisitely detailed and organized design in which a deep indigo field is covered with delicate, intricate floral tracery and a central medallion of pale yellow terminates in 16 minaret-shaped points with almond pendants. Both Ardabil carpets bear the inscription I have no refuge in the world other than thy threshold; My head has no protection other than this porch way; The work of the slave of the Holy Place, Maksoud of Kashan, in the year 946 [AD 153940]. Both carpets had been damaged by the late 19th century, and parts of the smaller one (which is now in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art) were used to mend the larger one (now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London).