Sefer Muratowicz was an Armenian merchant; sent to Persia by the King of Poland (Sigismund III) to buy tents, carpets, weapons and fine textiles. It was Muratowicz who described (in another posting, here) the greedy Russian ambassador and his party fighting over golden tableware and ripping up expensive textiles. He also tells some great tales …
Yezdikhwast is between Isfahan and Shiraz – or, for Vita Sackville-West in 1927, from Isfahan on the way across the Zagros Mountains when she visited the Bakhtiari. She described the town as: “that fantastic grey eyrie overhanging a chasm. Pierre Loti compared it to the abode of sea birds [click here and scroll down for …
The madrese (religious school) at Khargird, in Khorasan (built 1438-45), is a showpiece of Timurid decorative art. Click here to see a short walk-through film I made (just learning!) about the six different sorts of tiles, some elegantly geometrical wallpaintings and some amazing plaster effects in the muqarnas (stalactite vaultings). Professor Grube and I discussed …
I’m fascinated by the renowned polymath Shaykh Bahaie – and an earlier posting on the blog has already showcased his amazing camel-powered oil mill, and mentioned his one-candle-powered hamam. Now his house in Isfahan is apparently up for sale. The house website explains that the building was nominated for the UNESCO prize of “most beautiful …
A while ago, I included details from an 1850s description of the famous Ardabil collection of ceramics being used for charitable feasts for the poor – and also referenced some (copyrighted) images showing the ceramic collection looking very like piles of washing up after a big party ( in Pope’s catalogue from 1956). Now the …
Following on my previous posting on the lovely stucco mihrab at Zuzan, two people kindly reminded me to properly credit Blair and Adle for the work they have done on the site. I had intended to draw further on this work – perhaps to write about the three phases of construction of the mosque-madrasa; or …
Shah Abbas and Jahangir had a complex relationship. There was an ongoing dispute over the key southern trade centre of Kandahar; but both men frequently professed their “brotherly love” (click here and here for earlier blog entries about jewel gifts), whilst at the same time engaging in more or less petty insults – always dressed up …
The exhibition of Courtly Textiles and Trade Goods now at Francesca Galloway’s gallery has some very special Safavid pieces, including a lovely silk velvet of a mother and child (with a delightful leopard), and the sort of long sash (it’s 3.8m) which became so fashionable abroad, especially in seventeenth century Poland. I’m going to focus, …
I went to see the madrasa at Zuzan on the recommendation of one of the builders at Khargird – I always ask any builders I meet where the good local buildings are, and this method sometimes comes up trumps. Now, I know that the building is dated at June 1218, and is one of only …
In 1672, Chardin reported an earthquake in NE Iran: “On 11 August, there arriv’d two Expresses [in Isfahan], one upon the Heels of the other, with bad News, to-wit, That two thirds of Metched . . one half of Nichapour, and a little Town near Nichapour, had been over-thrown by an Earthquake. That which most …