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Lot Essay
A small number of Safavid silk weavers signed their products; of these Ghiyath is both by far the best known and the most accomplished. He is also well known from historical records. He was the son of a renowned calligrapher, Kamal al-Din, and rose to become very wealthy, and a courtier to the Shah 'Abbas. Reports exist of his jesting at the expense of fellow courtiers while there, so he must have enjoyed a secure position. His products were so sought after in his own lifetime that a diplomatic gift from the Shah to the Emperor Akbar specifically mentions that it included fifty Ghiyath textile panels. He was commissioned to weave the tomb cover and wall hangings for the shrine of the tomb of Sheikh Safi in Ardebil. Requests for his silks arrived not just from Iran, but also from India and Turkey.
He is best known today for a series of figural textiles which very frequently depict scenes from Persian romances. Another panel from the same velvet as the present lot showing Khosraw and Shirin was included in the London 1931 exhibition (Arthur Upham Pope, A Survey of Persian Art, Oxford, 1938, pl.1038). A more frequently encountered design shows Layla seated on her camel. Examples are in Musée Royaux d'Art et Histoire, Brussels, in the Musée des arts décoratifs, Paris, and in other institutions. He tends to choose a small place within the design in which to place his signature; here it is on the saddle rug of the upper horse. For further details and illustrations please see Pope, op.cit, pp.2094-2101, plates 1036-1040.
He is best known today for a series of figural textiles which very frequently depict scenes from Persian romances. Another panel from the same velvet as the present lot showing Khosraw and Shirin was included in the London 1931 exhibition (Arthur Upham Pope, A Survey of Persian Art, Oxford, 1938, pl.1038). A more frequently encountered design shows Layla seated on her camel. Examples are in Musée Royaux d'Art et Histoire, Brussels, in the Musée des arts décoratifs, Paris, and in other institutions. He tends to choose a small place within the design in which to place his signature; here it is on the saddle rug of the upper horse. For further details and illustrations please see Pope, op.cit, pp.2094-2101, plates 1036-1040.