Carpets and Textiles in the Iranian World 1400 - 1700

Carpets and Textiles in the Iranian World 1400–1700 is a generously illustrated and meticulously produced compilation, in revised form, of the papers given at the international conference at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, in August 2003. Organised by the May Beattie Carpet Archive and co-sponsored by the Iran Heritage Foundation, the conference brought together leading scholars to examine carpets and textiles of the Iranian world as a tribute to the pioneering work of the late carpet scholar May H. Beattie.

Comprehensive papers by Dr Jon Thompson, Prof Walter B. Denny and Christine Klose, among others, address pertinent theoretical questions relating to carpets in the 15th century and later, whilst also discussing different aspects of the history of carpets and textiles in the Iranian sphere.

Other essays explore Safavid carpets and textiles, the use of ‘Kufic’ design elements in Persian carpets, as well as the textile trade across the Indian Ocean.