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 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 🇱🇻
The idea of purchasing valuable rugs and other artwork online from an overseas seller is daunting for several reasons, not least of which is the fact that, not being able to examine and feel the rug for yourself, you are never entirely certain that the origin, age or condition of the rug corresponds with the dealer’s description. For me, I could never take this step unless I had absolute trust in the integrity of the dealer, and my recent experience with Hadi confirms that my faith in him was well placed. Every detail of the antique rug expertly explained by Hadi was accurate and when I finally received the actual rug, it turned out to be even more stunning than his photos depicted. F. Alsagoff, Singapore
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 🇱🇧
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