Learn About | Persian Hunting Rugs

The Persian hunting design is one of the oldest and most elusive carpet styles. Originally created for Shahs and imperial leaders, the Persian hunting rug embodies a regal handsomeness and masculinity that is seldom seen in Persian city carpets. Rugs bearing the classic Persian hunting design include the oldest existent pile carpet as well as the most valuable silk carpets known today.

The Persian pictorial rug dates back 2,500 years to the beginning of the international carpet trade. The Pazyryk carpet, which is the oldest known pile carpet and the first hunting rug, was found in an ancient burial tomb from the year 500 B.C. This outstanding Persian hunting rug was preserved in the snow-covered Altai Mountains between Russia, Mongolia and Kazakhstan. The rug features motifs from the collapsed Assyrian Empire that controlled Mesopotamia, the ruling Persian Achaemenid Empire and the ancient Iranian Scythians who inhabited the Altai region and the Asian Steppes.

Despite the early emergence of the Persian hunting rug, depictions of people, animals and huntsmen are not seen again until the 1500s and the height of Safavid rule. Scholars believe the disappearance of hunting designs coincided with the increasing influence of Islamic empires. Aside from tribal pieces decorated with geometric people and animals, these depictions were viewed as a form of idolatry.

By the 16th century, Safavid leaders in Persia and Mughal leaders in sub-continental India were commissioning ornate hunting carpets depicting an elite sport and beloved pastime. Thanks to a date and master weaver’s signature woven in one hunting carpet from Kashan that is displayed in Milan, scholars know that the hunting format, including mounted huntsmen and archers set against a lush forested background, emerged during the mid-16th century.

Animals depicted on hunting carpets include horses, camels, war elephants, gazelle, deer, birds, hares, peacocks and mythical creatures like griffins, which are most notably included in the Pazyryk rug. Isfahan, Khorassan, Kerman, Kashan, Quom and Tabriz have been creating outstanding pictorial carpets for centuries. These large weaving centers have traditionally been home to the master weavers and infrastructure needed to create these exceptionally detailed carpets.