Number 1968
Type Workshop
Origin Isfahan
Style Pictorial
Material Wool & Silk
Size 190 x 107
Age 1960
Grand Master Sadegh Seirafian perfected the finest pictorial style Isfahan had ever seen during his mid career years of 1960-1980. This masterpiece is a majestic recreation of 16th century Safavid royal arts, with figural scenes lifted from the dramatic corpus of Persian arts of the book and especially the miniature painting school of Qazvin during the reign of Shah Tahmasp (1524-1576).
Omar Khayyam figural style
Dozar size 190 x 107
60 years old
All perfect
Signed in Farsi & Latin scripts:
فرش ايران أصفهان صادق صيرفيان 🇮🇷
S. Seirafian. Esfahan. Iran 🇮🇷
The composition depicts amorous scenes with lovers with a focus on ceramic vessels. Their significance is made clearer once we read the poem at the top.
It bears 2 quatrains of Persian poetry composed by the illustrious Omar Khayyam himself circa 1100. Whereas commercially woven Persian rugs with such scenes are generically called “Omar Khayyam”, this is the real deal because it consciously and deliberately cites the equally legendary medieval polymath. It may well be the first such scene in 20th century carpet design.
Haj Sadegh quotes verses 1&2 from his Rubaiyat no.15:
این کوزه چو من عاشقِ زاری بودهست
در بندِ سرِ زلفِ نگاری بودهست
این دسته که بر گردنِ او میبینی
دستیست که بر گردنِ یاری بودهست
It was famously translated by Edward FitzGerald in 1859:
𝐼 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒱𝑒𝓈𝓈𝑒𝓁, 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝒻𝓊𝑔𝒾𝓉𝒾𝓋𝑒
𝒜𝓇𝓉𝒾𝒸𝓊𝓁𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝒶𝓃𝓈𝓌𝑒𝓇’𝒹, 𝑜𝓃𝒸𝑒 𝒹𝒾𝒹 𝓁𝒾𝓋𝑒,
𝒜𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝑒𝓇𝓇𝓎-𝓂𝒶𝓀𝑒; 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓁𝒹 𝐿𝒾𝓅 𝐼 𝓀𝒾𝓈𝓈’𝒹
𝐻𝑜𝓌 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝓎 𝒦𝒾𝓈𝓈𝑒𝓈 𝓂𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝒾𝓉 𝓉𝒶𝓀𝑒—𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝑔𝒾𝓋𝑒
I also found this more contemporary translation (Sh. Shahriari):
𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵
𝘈 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘵
𝘞𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵.
Highly collectible & available
Hadi Maktabi and his staff provide comprehensive and thoughtful services to collectors and textile buyers worldwide. His knowledge of antique oriental rugs and textiles, including many fine offerings from the Levant, is unsurpassed. We have been loyal customers for over five years and have visited his Beirut premises. He has worked with us upon several occasions to select the exact Ottoman and Levantine pieces we wanted for our collection. You can be sure of quality and honesty when dealing with Hadi. Penelope and Timothy Hays, Just In From The East Collection, Florida 🇺🇸
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I first met Dr. Maktabi as a lecturer on carpet history and was captivated by his passion for the subject. Only later I knew him as a dealer, though even in our financial transactions, Hadi has been a gentle guide and friend. He has understood my taste and interests and made wonderful suggestions, but never in a pushy way. That is to say I have enjoyed working with him on several levels and wish to continue our excellent relations and dealings far into the future. A. Harvey Pincis, formerly Dar Al Athar Al Islamiyyah Museum (Kuwait), Latvia 🇱🇻
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