Woven from the Soul, Spun from the Heart: Textile Arts of Safavid and Qajar Iran

Transcription

1 Graduate Theological Union From the SelectedWorks of Carol Bier 1987 Woven from the Soul, Spun from the Heart: Textile Arts of Safavid and Qajar Iran Carol Bier, The Textile Museum Available at:

2 Woven from the Soul, Spun from the Heart November 7 - January 29, 1988 The Textile Museum Washington, D.C.

3 1extiles are luxuries and necessities. They are artifacts as well as primary sources which contain a wealth of in~ formation about the society that pro~ duced them Materials and color represent products available for textile production; structure gives evidence of levels of technological achievement. Patterns illustrate belief and values, fre~ quently offering insight into daily life. The mingling of motifs expresses a kinship of ideas. 1extiles, above all, illustrate a culture's freshness and vitality, its flexibility and adaptation to change. Meaning and Metaphor Cultural themes occur in both Persian poetry and the textile arts. Hunting, falconry, bird~and~flower studies were popular subjects for poetry, painting and the textile arts. Favorite stories from the Shahnamah, The Book of Kings by Firdawsi, and from the Khamsah, a quintet of poems by Nizami, were care~ fully transferred and adapted to the rectilinear requirements of woven tex~ tiles. Moments of drama and memora~ ble events were portrayed by painters and weavers alike. Persian textile arts express the herit~ age of a glorious past, displaying a sense of beauty that was an integral part of the cultural achievement of Safavid and Qajar Iran. Persian textiles figured prominently in one of the richest periods in textile history, and were sought by mercantile traders and royalty from abroad. Court and Commerce Shah Abbas I established the Safavid capital in Isfahan in There he en~ tertained ambassadors from over the world; travelers, missionaries and dip~ lomats from abroad mixed with the passersby It was an international cap~ ita!, a resplendent city with a main square, maydan, laid out with the royal mosque at one end, the grand bazaar at the other. In the bazaar silks and satin lampas, tapestries, velvets and brocades could be seen. Carpet and cloth merchants offered a rich ar~ ray of textile arts from the famous weaving centers of Th.briz, Kashan and Kirman, as well as the looms of Isfahan and neighboring towns and villages. Commercial production of textiles and carpets was encouraged throughout the country Embassies from Iran were sent abroad to promote Iranian silk trade. Particular types of carpets and tex~ tiles were favored by European trav~ elers to Iran and some were commis~ sioned by European royalty with coats~ of~arms. Other types, also woven by commission, shared structural chara~ teristics with Persian textiles but show stylistic elements to suit foreign tastes. Rugs and textiles produced by and for the Safavid court in the 16th and 17th centuries shared themes and de~ orative vocabulary with arts in other media. Animals in combat, pairs of birds and fish, intertwined fruit and flowering trees, all expressed symbolic meanings which related to contempo~ rary philosophical thought. Textiles and lrade After the discovery of sea routes to the east, European merchant adventurers traveled to Iran and beyond seeking fortunes and excitement as they as~ sumed the risks of international trade. Piracy at sea, brigandage on land, wars, and stormy weather often ate into their profits. But potential rewards were still sufficiently attractive for the rapid ex~ pansion of international trade in which textiles came to assume a role of major importance. The Portuguese, Dutch, and English established trading stations along the shores of the Persian Gulf. Calicoes and chintzes, woolen broadcloth, and Per~ sian silk created new markets, and stimulated competition that found ex~ pression in fashion, fabrics, and figural patterns in Iran and abroad.

4 Textiles and Technology Persian weavers achieved very high levels of technical accomplishment. Their application of the principles of design and pattern in relation to the processes of weaving are truly extraordinary Subtle alterations of color, and carefully thought-out patterns in which the actual unit of repeat is obscured by the design, resulted in many varieties of beautiful and complicated woven fabrics. Woman's jacket, lattice with butah and floral designs; Iran and Europe, 19th century; The Textile Museum Gift of Mrs. Melvin Hall Commodity and Consumption The focus of intense commerce, textiles emerged in the 19th century as a key commodity The textile industries of Iran suffered from the import of cheaper manufactured goods from abroad. In the 1860's a disease among silkworms dealt a further blow to production and export. In spite of several attempts at revival, production never reached earlier levels. Towards the end of the 19th century, the Persian carpet industry rapidly developed as a major e.ffort in Iran and on the part of European capitalists to produce viable exports to help balance mounting trade deficits. Pasture and Product Parallel to all of these developments, much of Iran's population adhered to a nomadic way of life, pursuing pasture for their flocks. In dry areas of the Iranian plateau and along the slopes of surrounding mountains, pastoral nomads practiced a form of economic livelihood which can be documented in Iran for many millennia. Dairy products, and weavings made from the wool of sheep and goat served the needs of family and tribe to sustain a local economy Nomadic weavings are admirably suited to the particular requirements of portability and a rugged lifestyle. Yet like the textiles and carpets produced by the court and in urban centers, they reflect the effects of historical change in aspects of color and design. Horse cover with breast flaps (jul-e asbl. Shahsavan, Northwestern Iran, second half 19th century, The Textile Museum Gift of Arthur D. Jenkins Production of textiles was central to the economy of Iran from the sixteenth through the nineteenth centuries. Throughout this four hundred yea r period, Persian textiles for interior furnishings, carpets, and garments were produced for local use and the court. Recent studies related to social and economic history, cultural anthropology, and art history have yielded significant new information for the documentation and interpretation of Safavid and post-safavid textile arts of Iran. No recent work in Iranian studies has taken into account surviving textiles as primary source materials towards an understanding of the history, society and economy of Iran in these periods. Nor have studies of textiles taken into account the results of new research, now available, for a reconstruction of the social and economic environments in which these textiles were produced and in which they served at all levels of society The exhibition "Woven from the Soul. Spun from the Heart;' and its accompanying catalogue, incorporate new findings and place the objects within their cultural contexts, reflecting the adaptations of peoples to the changing social and economic circumstances that affected aspects of their production, use and trade. WOVEN FROM THE SOUL, SPUN FROM THE HEART has been organized by The Textile Museum, Washington, DC. We gratefully acknowledge major funding for this project from the National Endowment for the Humanities, a federal agency This exhibition has also benefitted from the generous support of the National Endowment for the Arts, Donna and John Sommer, and U.S. Trade, Inc. Funds for this brochure were provided by an anonymous gift in memory of Richard Ettinghausen. The 1extile Museum 2320 S Street. Northwest Wash ington, DC (202)

5 Iran I Shah Ismail fou nds Safavid dynasty, fights wars with Ottomans, loses territory 1524 Shah Tahmasp moves capital to Oazvin, offers commercial privileges to the IEnglishl Muscovy Company Salavid paintings represent idealized pattemed textiles and garments Goldell Age 01 dassical Persian carpets 1598 Shah Abbas entertains foreign embassies, moves capital to Isfahan 1599 Abbas sends embassies to Europe and Russia Portuguese 1507 Port of Hormuz seized by Portuguese fl eet 1523 Embassy from Portugal to Shah Ismail I 1548 Portuguese supply Shah Tahmasp with cannon and men at time of Ottoman invasion 1580 Philip ) of Spain rules Portugal 1587 Portuguese build forts at strategic points along coast of Persian Gulf 1588 Philip II sends fleet to conquer England, but Invincible Armada is destroyed 1595 Spanish rule of Netherlands ends King of Poland commissions carpets from Iran 1603 Embassy of Mughal Emperor Akbar from India 1604 Armenian population resettled at New lulfa, suburb of Safavid capital at Isfahan Embassies from Golconda and Shah lahangir Shah Abbas and East India Company set up maritime blockade of Portuguese Salavid pailltillg depicts drapery 01 garmellts 1621 Shah Abbas and English take Hormuz 1622 Abbas renames port Bandar Abbas IGombroon) Afghan invasion effectively ends Safavid rule 1736 Nadir Shah ) assu mes throne, campaigns in Afghanistan and India, Bukhara and Khiva, resettles Turkomen and Uzbeks in Iran 1750 Karim Khan Zand ) reunites parts of Iran, founds Zand d ynasty 1779 Agha Muhammad founds Oaiar Dynasty Oaiar capital moved to Tehran 1797 Fath Ali Shah Oaiar oil paintings alld \Vatereolors depict richly pattemed textiles alld garmellts European imports increase Local textile industries decline Muhammad Shah Oaiar ) initiates efforts to revitalize textile industries 1848 Nasir ai-din Sha h ) encourages shawl weaving and supports loca l textile production 1865 Silk-worm disease strikes 1870s Capital investment in Persian carpets 1873 Nasir ai-din promotes Persian carpets abroad 1895 Spinning mill set up in Tehran 1900 The Oriental Society and Islamic Society promote consumption of local products 1908 Spinning mill set up in Isfahan 1909 Spinning mill set up in Oazv in Philip ) sends embassy to Iran Embassy from Shah Abbas to Philip 1lI includes 50 bales of silk for sale Governor of Shiraz restores coastal strip north of Hormuz to Safavids Portuguese attack English vessel lames Safavids with help of English recapture Hormuz Portuguese dominance in Persian Gulf weakens 1640 Portuguese successively lose control of Oman, Basra, and Muscat in the next decade

6 m =.=. "., m =."r-l ~... m.... '... m..,..... =..._,.,... ~;:~~~~~~~~~~~.~~~~~~ Textiles clnd Trade Internationallnterests in Iran (16th-19th Centuries) English Dutch French Russian 1553 "Mysterie and Companie of Merchant Adventurers for the Discoverie of Regions, Dominions, Islands and Places Unknown;' first joint-stock company for foreign trade, founded in London, later named t he Muscovy Company 1562 Letter from Queen Elizabet h ) to Shah Ta hmasp "to treate of friendship, and free passage of our Merchants" 1566 Shah Tahmasp extends commercial privileges to Muscovy Company 1595 Netherlands freed of Spanish rule Dutch maritime and commercial interests develop leading to presence in Persian Gulf 1598 "Society for Trade to Distant Countries" founded in Holland 1569 Iva n the Terrible ) sends envoy to Shah Tahmasp with 30 ca nnons, 4000 muskets, and 500 "good musketeers" for training 1599 Shah Abbas I sends embassy to court of Czar Boris Godunov ) 1600 English East Ind ia Company founded by Royal Charter Company notes market for English broadcloth in Iran 1602 Dutch United East India Company chartered 1623 Shah Abbas grants special privileges to Dutch Shah Abbas issues farmiill to protect trade rights for East India Company and promises silk supply for shipment 1621 Safavids and English attack Hormuz 1625 Embassy from Iran to Charles I ( ) 1627 First embassy from England to Iran 1625 Dutch set up trading stat ion at Bandar Abbas and dispute English monopoly of sil k trade 1629 Embassy from Netherlands to Iran arrives at Gombroon and concludes treaty Dutch influence in Persian Gulf increases 1640 Dutch seize coastal island from Persia ns 1677 French East India Company establishes agency at Ba ndar Abbas 1618 Embassy from Muscovy to Shah Abbas with gifts of fur, and barrels of vodka 1644 Cza r Michael ) presents Safavid velvet coat to Queen Christina of Sweden ) 1652 Dutch-English Wars affect reduction of trade during next half century 1680 Dutch commercial interests remain strong in Persian Gulf while those of the English wane 170 I Trade act in England prohibits import of wrought silks from India and Iran; English interest in raw silk increases 1756 Anglo-French Seven Years' War: French naval squadron attacks British station at Bandar Abbas; in 1759 French destroy British agency 1763 British agents withdraw from Bandar Abbas and move to Basra under Ottoman control Karim Khan Zand establishes protected British station and residency at Bushire by farmall 1714 Dutch agents commission textiles for the King of Siam to be woven on special looms Later in the century metropolitan Holland decl ines, which diminishes Dutch commercial act ivity in the Persian Gulf 1753 Dutch agents expelled from Basra; Dutch occupy Kha rg Island 1759 Dutch agents abandon stat ion at Ba ndar Abbas 1765 Agents withd raw from Kharg Island, ending Dutch influence and presence in Persian Gulf Treaty of Friendship and Commerce between France and Iran 1756 Anglo-French Seven Yea rs' War: French naval squadron attacks British station 1759 French destroy British agency at Bandar Abbas 1789 French Revolution Peter the Great ) sends embassy to Iran 1732 Treaty of Friendship, Amity, and Com merce between Iran and Russia: Iran cedes Caspian provinces Russian interests expand towards India Ru ssian-persian Wars 180 I Treaties of Alliance and Commerce between Great Bri t ian and Iran 1807 Napoleon Bonaparte ) sends mission to Iran, sets up political agency at Muscat Treaty of Gulistan between Russia and Iran: Iran loses most of Tra nscaucasus to Russia, but Iran and Russia continue to fight 1838 Commercial rivalry between Russia and British affects their policies in Ira n Treaty of Commerce between Britain and Iran f872 British transfer politica l interests in Persia n Gulf from Government of Bombay to Government of India 1877 Nasir ai-din sends Queen Victoria ( ) 14 new pile carpets and embroidered textiles 1844 French conclude commercial treaty with Oman 1855 French conclude commercial treaty with Iran 1828 Treaty of Turkomanchay between Russia and Iran concludes Russo-Persian Wars, guara ntees exchange of prisoners and establishes low duty on cotton exported from Iran to Ru ssia Ira nian cotton and wool exports shipped by Ru ssian railway to city factories and markets 1907 Anglo-Russian Agreement to partition Iran Iranian oil concession to English 1907 Anglo-Russian Agreement to partition Iran into spheres of influence 1914 Agreement of the British Treasury and Admiralty with Anglo-Persian Oil Company