Quarterly Scientific-Research Goljaam

Love of beauty and perfection is an inherent characteristic of human beings. The principle of “need” complements the sense that brings artistic creation in him to a peak, resulting in the formation and permanence of culture. The “carpet” may not represent a pure form of art, but it there is no doubt that its artistic and visual qualities put it beyond a mere commercial commodity and elevate it to the position of a work of art that embodies taste, thought, beliefs and a special custom. It presents the intellectual and cultural potentials of a people in the form of esoteric motifs and symbolic forms. The elementary motifs and patterns that are especially found in rural carpets and small carpets usually embody a purer content from the point of view of symbolic concepts that deserve a thorough investigation.

Various Persian traditional arts can be understood as different aspects of a unique concept. All of them represent substantial meanings which root in both Islamic and Iranian beliefs. The symbolic language of these arts and the ability of being expressed in various arts let artists to choose proper methods for their work. Rug and architecture are the most important Persian arts and two aspects of Persian symbolic design methods. This paper tries to focus on Mihrabi rugs as a direct reflection of one of architectural components of mosque architecture in rug design as a suitable carpet for praying time. The paper intends to show how ancient and Islamic architectural symbols affect symbolic expression of these rugs and how these different arts show a homogeneous idea in terms of their own capacities. This study uses a descriptive method and a comparative semiotic approach from historical and iconographical viewpoint and traces the mosque architecture elements and symbolic plant designs of Mihrabi rugs. Paradigmatic process shows some evidences regarding designers’ efforts to represent triple structure of ancient Mithraism altars in the form of mosque space structures and heaven on the limited space of rugs by replacing a triple division of floral patterns instead of architectural structure of mosques in a symbolic way, so the middle tree represents the ancient tree of life and recalls the main dome and two cypresses with their roots in ground and their heads up to the sky are the symbols of minarets. This fulfills artist’s objective to demonstrate such rugs as mosques and linkage between heaven and earth. 

Kerman nomadic hand-woven carpets, woven without a detailed advance plan, is today one of the less discussed issues in the industry. Rafsanjan, Raviz carpet is among hundreds of nomadic carpets with significant authenticity and different motifs, including tree, mecca, flower pot, boteh, brick, medalion. The tree motif is one of the most beautiful features mainly seen in carpets woven in this area with different types the major one of which is cypress. By examining the structure, the present study aimed at identifying the major marginal and central motifs, their local name, and what changed over time? In which part of the carpets the changes can be found? To provide correct answers, the sample included 40 carpets woven based on the target motif collected by photography. The study was a descriptive analysis. The result indicated that the motif was first 2/1 tree, and changed over time into 2/1 medalion and 4/1 in some cases. The most visible changes are in the medalion motif of the carpet which was first cypress and changed over time into a diamond-shaped medalion. A major motif in the carpets is sini a triangular form woven at the bottom of the carpet. The motif includes plant, animal and bird motifs.