Many travellers stop at Natanz on their way from Isfahan to Kashan. Of course, when you hear the word ‘Natanz’, most people think only of the Iranian nuclear enrichment controversy. But Natanz is also my most favourite small town in Iran, with some very special historic monuments. Please don’t miss seeing: the shrine; the monstrous …
Many travellers stop at Natanz to see the gorgeous Ilkhanid (early 14th century) façade. It’s one of the most spectacular sights in Iranian architecture, and it’s only an hour or so from Isfahan, on the way to Kashan. With its blend of glazed tile, stucco, and terra cotta it’s been described as a 3-D version …
We know relatively little about the life of Safavid women, but we do know something about the elegant Jahan Nama Palace. This Palace was designed for the royal women of Shah Abbas the Great. It’s name translates as “Reflection of the World”. Although they would have been hidden behind finely wrought, trellised windows, the Safavid women …
I know a little about Persian tents: like the impressive encampment of Shah Tahmasp – as described by the Venetian spy, Michele Membre in 1539. There were Persian tents “as far as a man could see, all well-ordered, with their streets” and so many horses and mules “that they couldnt be counted … all the plains were full …
Dodmore Cotton was the first accredited British ambassador to Shah Abbas the Great. Officially, the embassy was tasked with establishing formal trade and diplomatic relations between England and Persia. Unofficially, it aimed to resolve the diplomatic impasse following the public fisticuffs in London between Robert Sherley and Abbas’ 1625 ambassador to Europe, Naqd Ali Beg …
That’s what Lord Curzon thought about Thomas Herbert’s A relation of some yeares travaile… into the Territories of the Persian Monarchie. Herbert’s account, of his journey to Persia in 1627-29 as a junior member of the Dodmore Cotton embassy, is one of my favourites too, even if most Safavid historians pay much less attention to …
Shirin Neshat is the first artist of Middle East origin and first woman since 2009 to have a solo show at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington. Ms Neshat is an expatriate Iranian and much of her work is identified with gender politics in the Islamic Republic. After her seminal Women of Allah photographic series, and the …
I’ve just been travelling close by the Roman-Sasanian border: around Diyarbakir, or Amida, as the Assyrians and Romans called it. It was a lesson in the long history of multicultural-ness of that area – now on the edges of Syria, Iraq and Turkey. Diyarbakir / Amida is an important node in the ancient international trade …
Even though the Safavid ‘Coronation carpet’ failed to sell at Sothebys recently, its story can’t fail to interest you. It was used at the coronation of two British Kings, Edward VII (in 1902) and George V (1911), as well as at the marriage of Princess Mary (1922). Click here to see what I’m talking about The …
The Islamic Sales this week were, as usual, a great chance to see – and even handle – high quality objects. I went to Christies with a friend of mine and we drooled over the only known Mongol carpet (yes, you read that correctly – the only one!). This was not only gorgeous – the …