TEHRAN – The Carpet Museum of Iran will host an online meeting on Monday on medallion patterns of the carpets woven in the central city of Isfahan, the museum’s director Parisa Beyzaei said, CHTN reported on Saturday. 

Carpet designer Hamid Zarei is scheduled to deliver a speech during the meeting, which will be streamed both on the museum’s official website and on social media, she added. 

Handwoven Persian carpets are sought after internationally for their delicate designs and good quality. A medallion pattern is arguably the most characteristic feature of all types of Persian rugs. However, there is tremendous variation in the shapes and sizes of the medallions as well as the way they are used in various rugs. It’s not wrong to say that no two rugs will have the same medallion layout.

Medallion carpet is any floor covering on which the decoration is dominated by a single symmetrical centerpiece, such as a star-shaped, circular, quatrefoiled, or octagonal figure. The name, however, is sometimes also given to a carpet on which the decoration consists of several forms of this kind or even of rows of medallion figures.

Among Persian carpets, particularly those of the classic period, the medallion may represent an open lotus blossom with 16 petals as seen from above, a complex star form, or a quatrefoil with pointed lobes. 

Toward each end of the carpet, there may be added to this centrepiece a cartouche form (an oval or oblong ornate frame), placed transversely, and a finial or pendant that sometimes is very large. In each corner of the field, there may appear a quarter-medallion, which may or may not have the same contour and the same appendages as the central medallion. Such combinations are still used in the decoration of modern Persian carpets.

ABU/MG