These two fragments, which may or may not be from
Plate Thirteen (the Hatvany carpet) as some have postulated,
are illustrated here for their superb quality.
The theme of drunken Angels is a constant in carpets
of the Safavid period, appearing in its most jovial form in
the Yerkes Medallion carpet, now in the Metropolitan Museum
of Art. Wine drinking and its literary corollary – wine
and roses poetry found in carpet inscriptions - was an abiding
theme in Persian art with its associations of trance, ecstasy
and Guardian Angels.
The famous wine made in the city of Shiraz, Iran
is said to have resembled the Spanish Malaga of the 19th century,
a sweet dessert wine that was frequently used for the Catholic
Sacrament.
