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
I must say this one of the most enriching carpet purchase experiences I ever had. This was not a mere transaction but more an experience about art and history. Dr Maktabi's experience and knowledge in this space is second to none. Highly recommended! R.A., Doha, Qatar
“I practically furnished my entire home with carpets from Hadi. The process was not only a joy but it was also a learning experience for me. Hadi was super helpful in identifying the right pieces for my home that would both work with my taste, budget, sizes required and that would be a good investment for my family. Hadi’s collection is second to none, and his knowledge and service is truly the blessing on top.” Amr Banaja, Public Investment Fund, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦
You can't only be a customer of Hadi Maktabi. While his main purpose is rug dealing, he starts with story telling and ends with history selling. That's what I call high-end art curating and closing it all with an entertaining friendship. George El Hani, CEO Levica, Lebanon 🇱🇧