Ardabil, city of Ardabil province in Iran, inheriting its carpet weaving style and techniques from the
Tabriz rug style. At the first of the Safavid dynasty, the capital of their kingdom was Tabriz; the capital art impacted neighbor cities such as Ardabil, and cultural movements also carpet weaving. Soon the town becomes one of the professional carpet producers of traditional royal Persian rugs, with many carpet workshops under the control of the royal court. Ardabil rugs include specific designs like “Mir,” with Boteh motifs in the central field of the carpet, and “Sarabi,” which is similar to
Heriz rugs but in remarkable color harmony and blooming branches in vertical rows near each other.
The Ardabil rug is famous mainly because of a pair of extraordinary elegant masterpiece carpets woven in the 13th named
“Sheik Safi” carpet produced for Sheikh Safi-al-din Ardabili shrine (a poet mystic in the Safavid era). These two rugs have similar designs, a central medallion with oval shapes around it and two pendant lights above and under the medallion, a field full of arabesque flowers patterns, symbolizing paradise. Also, both have a signature and a couplet from the famous Persian poet “
Hafez” at the top of the central field. Carpets are woven in large sizes (but more extensive than their current size); one in Victoria & Albert Museum is about 10 in 5 meters and the other in
Los Angeles county museum of art is about 7 in 4 meters.