At the court of the Safavid dynasty (Iranian dynasty from the 16th to 18th centuries), Persian carpets were considered more than just floor coverings; they were symbols of prestige. Meanwhile, European royal families and aristocrats also recognized the high cultural value of these magnificent carpets and competed to collect them.
Successive Safavid sultanates established court workshops in various regions and had them weave the highest quality carpets. Under the patronage of the royal court, textile arts reached a golden age in the 16th century, producing many masterpieces. The court carpets thus woven boasted intricate and ornate designs, often using gold and silk threads, and as works of art and crafts, they displayed the prestige of royalty. Magnificent carpets were laid out in the palace halls and audience halls to project authority, and some were even donated to mosques and other religious facilities.
Safavid carpets also reached Europe through diplomatic gifts and East-West trade. In 1603, Shah Abbas I (the Safavid Shah) presented the Doge of Venice with a luxurious carpet inlaid with gold and silver threads. Furthermore, in 1602, King Sigismund III of Poland ordered a Persian carpet woven with his country's coat of arms as part of his daughter Anna's dowry. Records of this order later provided evidence that the carpet was made in Iran.
In European palaces, Persian carpets were considered luxury furnishings brimming with exotic taste and were prized on the same level as works of art. Indoors, carpets decorated not only floors but also tables and walls, and served as symbols of the owner's wealth and sophistication. The Habsburgs also had large carpets made in the Safavid court decorating their villas. These carpets still exist today as the "Imperial Carpets."
