Description of Design and History
The design of this rug can also be called nature, patterned shows 12 element of flowers, animals, birds in natural life. The background color of the field of the rug is cream but other colors such as blue, beige, light and dark green, brown, gold masterfully used in some part of each field to not only highlight the scenes but to double the beauty of the rug. After long years, the colors of this rug have reached the peak of the beauty. Had an image of this rug in its nascence, been available, the development of its colors could have been examined throughout the years. This Esfahan masterwork example was woven by Ostad Emami. Mirza Aqa Emami was born in 1881 in Esfahan and passed away in 1955 at the age of seventy-five in his city of birth. Of the apprehensions of his youth and young adulthood were the destruction and collapse of the architectural works of the Safavid era in his beloved Esfahan. His deep and profound look at these works, instilled within, his being an enthusiasm for studying art but not until his father approved that he spend half the day studying religion and the other half in pursuit of drawing and the art ofmaking pen cases. This was while a trade in pursuing drawing and miniature in the conditions and circumstances of the end of the Qajar era was not considered as desirable. Inevitably, to avoid the reproach of those around him, and with the consent of his father, he studied and practiced in private. In order to fulfill his aspirations, Mirza Aqa Emami, along with several other artists of Esfahan, at first set at the revival of the art making a kind of book cover called sukht ( embossed and inlaid leatherwork) but the flourishing of book covers painted in oil paints during the Qajar did not allow this art to expand. He did not give in and by creating sukht tableaux, he added to the beauty and grandeur of the heritage left by those long gone. The sukht artist had to have complete knowledge and skill in all the methods and secrets of the seven arts combined (miniature, illumination, tash’ir, calligraphy, gold-leafing, muarraq on leather, and adornment of the frames) to create the sukht tableaux or book covers. The skill of Master Emami in these arts resulted in an exquisite collection of works. This master had an able hand in the fields of portraiture, animal rendering, flower and shrubs and design of cartoons.His attention to the art of rug making so motivated him that long with the establishment of a rugweaving workshop, he endeavored at the improvement of cartoons and the creation of extremely fine designs of rugs.