Concurrent with the beginning of spring, responsible of Astan Quds Razavi’s carpet specialized museum stated, “Over one hundred pieces of carpet including carpet, rug, and carpet tableau have been put into public display. Antiquity of these pieces ranges from Safavid era up to contemporary time”.
Muhammad Taji introduced this museum as the biggest carpet museum in the Middle East. He also continued, “Over ninty percent of these carpets have been dedicated by devotees of Hazrat Reza (A.S.) and rest of them have been bought in order to use in the Holy Shrine and other houses”.
He added, “Shah Abbasi Afshan carpet (Golabtundar), four-season carpet, general scheme (Bote) carpet (Molla Hasan Mohtasham), sanctuary-like rug (Tuba tree), are some carpets of this museum from Safavid to Ghajar dynasty which are also noted, by artists, in terms of design and color”.
Taji also referred to the inscription rugs of the museum and said, “Having inscriptions from the Divine Pentad (A.S.), Wareth prayer, and also Qur’anic verses of al-Rahman and Tohid Surahs, these rugs have given a very special atmosphere to this museum”.
He introduced Safdar Zadeh Haghighi brothers among most important donators in the carpet museum and added, “Pictorial carpet of seven cities of love is one of the most unique carpets of the center which has been put into public display alongside their other offerings such as pictorial carpets of coral garden and fish world and also rug tableaus of Allah Akbar minaret and Chehel Sotun palace”.
Saying that in addition to their historical and artistic value, museum’s carpets are of great value in terms of application and some of them were used as prayer rug, curtain, and covers for boxes and floors, responsible of Astan Quds Razavi’s carpet museum stressed, “Box cover of Imam Reza’s (A.S.) holy grave are one of these unique works of art which receives lots of attention from visitors”.
He asserted, “Astan Quds Razavi’s carpet museum has been divided into three floors based on design, subject classification of weaving region, and antiquity of the carpets. Museum’s building is 6647 square meters big. It has three floors for carpet presentation and one floor for workshop.
“All interested people can visit Mashhad’ big carpets and Safavid ones in floor -1, Carpets of central and eastern parts of Iran and also curtain carpets in the ground floor, and carpets of west and north western parts of the country and also carpets woven by nomad and tribes in the floor +1”, Taji continued.
He said, “Astan Quds Razavi’s carpet museum is open from Saturday up to Wednesday from 8 to 11:30 in the morning. It is also open on Fridays and official holidays of Nowruz (except 13th of Farvardin) from 8 to 12 in the morning. The center is located in Razavi Holy Shrine’s Kousar Courtyard next to Central Museum of Astan Quds Razavi.
It is worth mentioning that for more information, all the interested people can visit Astan Quds Razavi’s museum’s website on museum.aqr.ir.
