ca. 1540
Iran
Object qualities
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Objecttextile (towels, carpets, etc.): Fragment
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Type of arts & crafts
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MediumSilk; cut and voided velvet with continuous floats of flat metal thread
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SizeTextile: L. 23 1/2 in. (59.7 cm) W. 18 3/16 in. (46.2 cm) Mount: L. 29 1/2 in. (74.9 cm) W. 24 in. (61 cm) Wt. 10 lbs. (4.5 kg)
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Geography detailsAttributed to
Iran -
Country today
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Dateca. 1540
Source of information
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Type of sourceDatabase “Metropolitan Museum of Art”
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Fund that the source refers toMetropolitan Museum of Art
Description
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This velvet fragment is said to have once formed part of the interior of a tent used by Kara Mustapha Pasha during the second Ottoman siege of Vienna in 1683. The tent probably was captured from the Turkish army as war booty. These types of Safavid velvets were also used for furnishings, cushions, and ceremonial robes, and were produced in a royal workshop in Tabriz. The Safavid court favored figurative velvets that depicted hunting, a recreational passion of Persian royalty, or, in some cases, scenes from poetic texts. This fragment features a recurring motif—a young hero hurling a rock at a dragon, watched by two birds on a nearby tree.