King Abbas (r. 1587–1629) of Safavid was a great patron of Persian art. Historians recognise his reign as a period of political reform and cultural progress. Under his patronage, artists flourished and thrived. The marvellous buildings of the era still stand and glorify cities like Isfahan. Some of the most outstanding artworks of the Shah's reign were ceramic works, manuscript illustrations and carpets.
The royal court's interest in painting was initiated by King's grandfather Tahmasb (r. 1524–76), an artist himself, under whose auspices formed the Safavid style of painting. Many carpet designers follow the Safavid style and create carpets like the example here known as carpets of "Shah Abbasi" design.
The rug here is a beautiful manifestation of the four centuries-old design and thousands of years old tradition of carpet making. The weavers have painstakingly made two million knots to materialise the classic design. They have used the best quality silk as the base and "kork"wool and silk as a pile. Weaving a rug of this calibre is painstaking work that takes two skilled workers six to eight months. Adding the time for designing, preparing the material, and finishing puts the estimated time of completing such work at a year.
