The Emergence and Development of the Flowers of Shah Abbasi in the Designs of Safavid and Qajar Carpets

Abstract :
Carpet arrays include a diverse collection of plants, animals, human and abstract motifs. The breadth of plant motifs is greater than other types because its variety is as wide as the plant motifs found in nature, incorporating abstract plant motifs and in rotating and broken formats. The types of plant arrays generally include species like Arabesque, Khatai, flowers and bushes, trees and Golfarang. This study was conducted with the aim of examining and identifying the types of Shah Abbasi flowers engraved in Safavid and Qajar carpets and examining their development in the aforementioned era. Based on this, the main question in this study is: What are the characteristics of the flowers of Shah Abbasi in Safavid and Qajar carpets? The research method of this paper is fundamental and in terms of nature is descriptive and it is descriptive-analytical and comparative in case of research problem. The method of data collection was document-based. The results show that the Shah Abbasi Anari flower array was used in carpets of both the Safavid and Qajar periods as one of the most repetitive motifs. The Shah Abbasi flowers of the Safavid era are simple and they have less complexity than the Qajar samples, whereas the Qajar samples are more ornate and with a lot of peeling inside and around. The details of the Qajar samples are also more prolific and micro-processed, and the Safavid samples are characterized by their color selection and the use of distinctive colors. In case of simplicity and decoration, the Safavid samples can be considered simple and functional, which are far from complex, but the Qajar samples are more abstract and with shape and form complexities.