The Niche, the Rug and the Throne

1 - The Fletcher 'Salting' niche rug, Qazvin (?), 1560s (?)

The niche pattern appears to have been depicted on oriental carpets since the late 14th century as proved by period miniatures. They represent the prophet and other holy characters in the act of speaking and teaching on a niche patterned textile. In later Islamic paintings high rank characters as well are depicted kneeling and bowing in the act of praying.

2 - Timurid miniature, Persia, 14th-15th 

The sacred symbolism of the niche applied to rugs was seemingly developed by sufism, the mystic branch of Islam spread since the medieval times in many eastern regions.

Although the niche in Islamic countries literally depicts the mihrab featured in the qibla wall of the mosque, its ancient architectural source overarches many cultures and religions. It is always  imbued with deep symbolic meaning conveying the idea of a space reserved to secular and religious power.

The sunnite version of Islam apparently spread the use of a rug for  kneeling on and fronting it during the ritual prayer. Conversely, the shi'ism, diffuse mainly in Persia from the beginning of the Safavid reign (1501), used a stone for this religious function.

Far from dismissing the importance of the niche pattern in Persian rugs, it is interesting to search for its distinctive meaning. The design appeared twice in the history of Persian rugs, namely in the Safavid period (16th) and in the mid 18th. As many sources and functions can be applied to it.

The religious character of the Safavid dynasty was one primary point inflaming the soon to be developed contest with the Ottoman empire bordering to the west. The Sultan as early as the mid 16th century conquered the holy places of Medina and Mecca, being then entitled  supreme Caliph of all Islam. Furthermore, the defeat of the Mamluk reign and the beginning of the 'Ottoman Age of Exploration' towards the Indian Ocean created an unprecedented consciousness of the empire world role in religious, political and commercial concerns.

The rise of the Safavid power challenged the subsistence as such of the Sultan leadership in as much their commercial interests were colliding with each other. The religious question added a very sensitive argument to the duel, for the Sultan and his jurists discredited the divine legitimacy of the Safavid power. Since the military means of the Ottoman Sultan were larger, the 16th century resulted in a continuous wearying period of alternating war and peaceful times.

3 - Ottoman empire, map, 1606

The diplomatic relations, as used, were characterised by repeat exchange of embassies, letters and gifts. In the Ottoman letters two specific points always argued with were the heresy of the  shi'ism with respect to Islam, and its disrespect for the Kuran.
All along the turmoil period the Safavid replies, more or less placatory, were focusing on the Shah's legitimate power both via religious as well historical evidence. Therefore, gifts and letters were always peppered with Kuran quotes  devoted to attest to the legitimacy of the Twelver shi'ism .

Considering that the shi'ism at that early period had not yet reached a codification as to habits, rules and organisation, the religious debates at the Sultan's court were at times confusing the Shah's ambassador and causing new arguments to subsequently appease.

As a result the Shah's embassies were always conceived so as to enlighten and impose the Persian cultural and artistic supremacy by means of exceptionally splendid gifts. This perspective can hopefully explain the nature of a very distinctive group of rugs depicted with a niche pattern and characterised by unprecedented features.

Commonly referred to as 'Salting' rugs, they are now firmly supposed to have been woven in the royal laboratories of Qazvin, the new capital of the Safavid reign soon thereafter the peace of Amasya (1555) signed by Suleyman and Thamasp. Though humiliating with a few aspects, the treaty assured a relatively peaceful period to Persia.

Carpets are recorded to have been amidst the stunningly wealthy gifts presented to the Ottoman Sultan  by Shah Thamasp. 

The niche rugs at issue bear inscriptions dedicated to the Shah, his divine power as well quotes from the Kuran related to the Twelver. Such manifest ideological contents are at all new in rugs which in such way would appear to have directly contributed to the cultural contest between the two monarchs.
The same meaning had the Shahnamah of Shah Thamasp, the  'Book of Kings'. This masterwork, possibly the most luxuriously illustrated story of the Persian epic, was presented along with other splendid gifts in 1568 for the accession to the throne of the new Sultan Selim II.

4 - The Karlsruhe 'Salting' niche rug, Qazvin (?), 16th, second half (?)

The woven inscriptions could have been inspired by some specific image the Persian ambassadors came across visiting Istanbul during their visit. They were in fact obliged to take part to propagandist tours displaying the wealth and power of the Sultan. One particular detail could not evade their attention nor the zealous accounts of the guides.
A must to be visited place was obviously the magnificent Suleiman's mosque built in 1550-57 on the top of whose main portal a large inscription welcomed visitors. Written by the period eminent ottoman jurist Ebusuud, it addressed the Sultan as the one and only supreme Caliph of the Arabs and Persians.

5 - Suleiman's mosque, main portal, Istanbul

Curiously enough, the inscriptions on the aforementioned rugs apparently reply to this statement in a sort of ideological challenge. The Shah was conscious that the carpets would not have been dismissed nor dispraised even by the Ottoman jurists for they bore some sacred Kuran's quotes. From then on they were held in some depot of the royal palace and never displayed nor used.

6 -  The Ballard  Cairene-Ottoman coupled column rug, 16th, third quarter

These Safavid rugs strongly distinguish themselves from the analogue Ottoman 'prayer rugs'. The latters are very much imbued with Ottoman architectural features and possibly influenced in the earliest phase by late Byzantine models, namely barley twist columns, Corinthians capitals and round arch. A cosmopolitan culture, as the one enjoyed in Istanbul from the 15th century, can not exclude as well other foreign influences. European paintings and architectural treatises were, in fact, available in the royal library, albeit these rugs sport distinctive Islamic features. Indeed they belong to a brand new aesthetic, synthesis and codification of an array of filtered experiences.

7 - The Al Sabah Cairene-Ottoman niche rug, 16th, second half

8 - Bursa, Green Mosque, tile mihrab, 1420s

The Persian rugs are, in turn, sporting some of the most typical designs of the new gorgeous Safavid style: cloud band all around, palmette and cartouche in the border, and the only by then typical ton sur ton use of colour. The architectural device as well seems to be quite rare for its vault shape is not recorded in carpets and textiles from earlier miniatures. Yet, these masterpieces deserve a further investigation.

Historical documents attest that in the early phase of the reign the Safavids did not build great complexes, still having a peripatetic court. They conversely enjoyed the available buildings scattered in the territory for they suited to their religious inclination to a mystic and ecstatic islam. Many of them were built during the Ilkhanid time and characterised by the typical sufi 'waqf',  a charitable complex. Others were reflecting the architectural features of the Timurid style. The Blue Mosque in Tabriz dated to the mid 15th is one instance due to the artistic patronage of the Turkmen Qara Quyunlu. 

Apparently, a similarity does exist between the niche shape in the Safavid rugs and the one conceived in various architectural sections of Timurid buildings.
One specific appears rather close to that depicted in the rugs. It is characterised by a trefoil cusp, a narrow bottle neck and a shortened niche.

9 - Timurid tile, Samarkand, late 14th, trefoil arched niche

11 -  'Salting'  niche rug, late 16th  (?)

While the trefoil vault in rugs was usually replaced by a drop-like shape or a slightly petalled profile, the bottleneck is a distinctive mark. The niche rarely appears so shortened, but it never displays the proportions seen in the typical mihrabs where the vault is never so stretched.

10 -  The Fletcher 'Salting' niche rug, Qazvin (?), 1560s (?)

This pattern did not  leave a legacy to be developed in the following centuries. In the 17th century the Safavid rugs sported, in fact, an array of patterns based on floral composition, compartment, lattice and the usual medallion, the niche type being very rare. In its turn, the 18th century represents an obscure period as for rug production.

13 - Indian rug, small scale floral field, late 17th

Various political turmoils caused the fall of the Safavids and the rise of new dynasties, the Zand and the Afsharid. Period paintings reveal a new trend towards small scale floral patterns arranged by lattice, small medallions and a dense textured design. The Herati and Mina Khani design are two such motifs. A similar trend appears almost concurrently in Turkish rugs. It is easy to argue an Indian influence in as much Indian rugs did develop early in the 18th century this sort of style later sublimated in the 'millefleur' type.

12 - Nader Shah on a carpet, 18th, first half

   

In the mid to late 18th century niche rugs of the Indian millefleur type began to be woven in Persia. Obviously, a few variations in both pattern and decoration are to be seen because of the necessary melting into different decorative traditions. Nevertheless, some distinctive features are commonly saved, namely two cypresses sustaining a multilobed vault, a hillock sporting a vase of flowers laying on a vessel, and finally a densely textured floral design arranged by thin vines crowned on the top with a large sunflower. Ferahan and Sarouk are the usual provenances, while in South Persia the skillful Qashqay weavers are responsible for a large group of exemplars.

15 - Millefleur niche rug, Sarouk, 19th first half

14 - The Mc Mullan Millefleur niche rug, India, late 18th

16 -Qashqay  Millefleur niche rug, Persia, 19th, second half

Meanwhile, Tehran, the new capital of the Persian empire, was experiencing the Qajar efforts at reshaping the monarchy reputation on both the Safavid 'Golden Age' and European features as well.
In the second half of the  19th century other niche rugs began to appear in Persia. The vault shape can vary and the field be graced by numerous designs as the tree of life, mythological animals and trees, a vase sprouting flowers, small scale floral patterns and pictorial designs. These rugs indeed show an incredible array of motifs as a sort of index of carpet designs. It really seems that a passion for this design was suddenly grown.

17 - Kerman niche rug, 19th second half

18 - Kerman niche rugs, late 19th

This production is apparently unrelated to the Safavid niche group, the design plausibly developed from the millefleur type and later assimilated the western commercial requests. Nonetheless, we again miss a real knowledge of  the early Qajar rugs. 

Even so, an essential event can have favoured the niche pattern to surface once more at a certain point in the 18th/19th century, that is the arrival of the magnificent booty from the sack of Dehli, 1739. The splendorous Peacock Throne was possibly the most illustrious piece. Commissioned by Shah Jahan in the early 1600, immediately gained a large fame because of its gorgeous beauty and richness. Destroyed in 1747 at the death of Nadir Shah, it left a long lasting memory for many replica were made by the subsequent Persian Shahs. The Qajar rulers (1781-1925) themselves are known to have commissioned several thrones inspired by the original features, although finally diverging.

19 - Shah Jahan on the Peacock Throne,  early 17th

  

20 -  Fath Ali Shah throne, the Sun Throne, 19th first quarter

The throne, obviously, is an important symbol of any monarchy, but it did have a unique role in Persia.

By the ancient Iranian mythology it is imbued with a divine power which is directly conveyed to the monarch. Since at least the Ilkhanid times the backrest sports a distinctive shape, a trefoil form referring to  the Chinese cloud collar and the sacred connection between earth and heaven. The motif continued to be one peculiar feature passing through the Timurid times into the Mughal art.
Interestingly enough, the niche pattern does match this symbology as since time immemorial it represented a revered sacred space.

Therefore one can claim the niche with a trefoil vault to be one most meaningful and powerful device of kingship.

21 - Throne of Eshmoun, Greco/Persian art

22 - Ilkhanid Persia, Gengis Khan enthroned, Rashid al Din

No wonder if the Qajar rulers in the effort at reshaping the authority of the monarchy revived long passed traditions. The Peakock throne, and its trefoil backrest, was obviously one essential symbol of the monarchic power. As a result, the niche possibly gained an unprecedented political and social appeal. The royal trend, in fact, was likely conveyed to the bourgeoisie amid which the niche began to be one appreciated complement in a house display, the religious meaning definitely dismissed.
The commercial requests reshaped once more this noble tradition.

23 - 'Motashem' Keshan niche rug, late 19th

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Bibliographic references

Arcak, Sinem., Gifts in Motion: Ottoman-Safavid Cultural exchange, 1501-1618, University of Minnesota, 2012.
Canby, Sheila, R., Shah Abbas, The Remaking of Iran, London 2009.
Casale, G., The Age of Ottoman Exploration, Oxford University Press, 2010.

Denny, W., Saff and Sejjadeh: Origin and Meanings of the Prayer Rug, OCTS III/2.

Franses, M., The Darius of the World "Tiger" Carpet and the Garden of Paradise, Poldi Pezzoli Milano, 2014.
Idem, Some Wool-Pile Persian-Design Niche Rugs, OCTS V.
Franses and Bennet, The Topkapi Prayer Rugs, Hali 39.
Gombos, K., Ascetics, Dervishes and Prayer Rugs: Old Oriental Prayer Rugs, 1984.
Mills, J., The Salting Group: History and a Clarification, OCTS V.
Murray Lee Eiland III, Salting Carpets, New Scholarship, Ghereh 20.
Prayer Rugs, The Early History, Use and Iconography of the Prayer Rug, by Ettinghausen, Dimand, Mackie, Ellis, Textile Museum, Washington, 1974.
The Salting Carpets,by Eiland and Pinner, OCTS V/2
Thompson, J., Milestones in the History of Carpets, Milan 2006. 
"Auction Price Guide," Hali, issue 144, p. 115 and Sheila R. Canby, Shah 'Abbas; the Remaking of Iran, London, 2009, pp. 80-81.