Carpets Made
Above left and right: Some samples of carpets which are on display at the Carpet Museum. Photos: Blair Must-See Carpets One of the oldest carpets on display at Baku's Carpet Museum is a 17th-century fragment from the Tabriz Carpet School. Tabriz, a city in South Azerbaijan, founded its own carpet school during the Middle Ages. Tabriz-style carpets tend to depict hunting scenes, images from Nizami and Omar Khayyam poems as well as popular legends. Flowers and branches often ornament the elaborate, colorful displays.
Left: A sample of carpets which are on display at the Carpet Museum. Right: Sunburst pattern typical of some Azerbaijani carpets. The museum's oldest specimen from the Tabriz School, known as "Shah Abbas", depicts a hunting scene in bold colors: dark blue and dark red. Shah Abbas (1587-1629) was an Azerbaijani and Safavid king who Persianized the country. The carpet's complicated, delicate design borrows from a style of miniature art that originated in Tabriz' influential Miniatures School in the 16th century. As with other carpets from Tabriz, "Shah Abbas" is made of wool with a thick pile, as opposed to "palaz", a type of carpet without pile. Baku also had its own school for carpet-making. "Khila Afshan", an 18th-century carpet displayed at the museum, was made in Baku's Khila village (now known as Amirjan). "Afshan" refers to a specific style that was adapted from the Tabriz school. Whereas Afshan carpets from Tabriz have soft, subtle colors without much variation, the Baku version of the Afshan design stands out in its use of contrasting colors: red, white, and dark blue. The wool carpet is decorated throughout with flowers; individual petals frame the edges. Wedding Gifts Some of the carpets on display are family heirlooms that were sold or donated to the museum. For instance, scholars at the museum suspect that the 1724 "Khurjun" (saddlebag) on display was given by a bride-to-be to her future husband. It used to be a tradition for brides to give a saddlebag and horsecloth to their grooms as a wedding present. The cloth shows little signs of wear, indicating that it was probably passed down from generation to generation but never used. The saddlebag's design is composed of a series of diamonds, a pattern that was specific to the Gobustan carpets of the Shirvan school. Vibrant colors like red, green, blue and white dominate the 118 x 47 cm cloth. Another probable wedding present is the "Chul" (horsecloth) made in 1727. This cloth was also made in the Shirvan style, but is slightly larger and features a different design from the saddlebag. On it, mythological birds symbolize a wish for happiness. The coloring is also slightly different, featuring dark red, light green, yellow and dark blue as dominant colors. One of the museum's most striking exhibits is a carpet that was made only a few decades ago. Latif Karimov's "Song of Centuries" carpet, made in 1980, combines ancient motifs from the various carpet schools of Azerbaijan. Human beings, mythical birds and other animals all share the same space in this tribute to the history of Azerbaijani carpet-making. Dark blue and black are contrasted with lighter shades such as white and yellow. Public Outreach Items from the Carpet Museum often are sent on exhibit to other countries. For example, in 1998 UNESCO organized an exhibition in Paris featuring carpets and everyday utensils from the Middle Ages. The conference was held on the occasion of the poet Fuzuli's Jubilee. In 1999, carpets traveled from the museum to another exhibition in Paris that was devoted to Dada Gorgud's 1,300th Jubilee. An upcoming exhibition in Hanover, Germany will give the museum a chance to display some of its Azerbaijani folk applied art items, including copper jugs, mugs, buckets and saddle-bags. Within the community, the Carpet Museum organizes lectures and often invites students from local schools to come to the museum to learn more about the art of carpet-making. To supplement the museum collection, Director Roya Taghiyeva has written a book called "Azerbaijan's Carpet" (1999). The 262-page book features hundreds of color photos depicting the historical development of Azerbaijan's carpet. It was published by BP Amoco with support from the UN, UNDP and Baku Art and Culture Helpers. The volume is available for sale at the Carpet Museum. National Roya Taghiyeva, Director of the Museum, Back to Index |
Karimov's Legacy
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