Winged Genii Portrayed on Classical Carpet Borders


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Illustration 1

Hi Barry,

Here is information for both of the images that I sent to you. It is taken directly from the book in which I found them Oriental Carpet Designs In Full Color 1979 by Friedrich Sarre and Hermann Trenkwald.

First image- the one with the faces

"Hunting carpet of the Persian court manufactory. Second half of the 16th century. Whole carpet 695 x 323 cm. This detail shows a corner ornament of the field (a quadrant of the star in the center of the field, it contains dragons and phoenixes), part of the main ground design, (huntsmen on 58 horses pursue 173 wild animals) and part of the border (in the main band are pairs of genii). This is the most celebrated old Persian carpet. (Austrian museum for Art and Industry, Vienna.)"

Note: The image that I sent you was of the border genii only.

Second image- the medallion one with no faces

"Persia. First half of 17th century. Whole carpet 389 x 152 cm, part shown 50 x 152 cm. This portion of the field shows the center panel with a crowned genius served by twelve attendant genii; one of the two flanking cartouches with calligraphy; several of the hunting scenes in the main ground; and portions of other panels. (Residenzmuseum, Munich)"

Third image- border form the preceding carpet

"This is one of the borders on the short sides. In the middle band two steinbocks fight in an octofoil that is flanked by two cartouches with genii. The outer bands (like the field cartouches) contain love verses with constant allusions to carpets."

Barry, I am no student of art or of Islam. I saw these and they fired up my imagination and curiosity. What do they mean? They look like winged angels but they're called genii. I notice that in both there is one genii who is being served, and in one case by twelve genii, Could this be the archangel Gabriel? It was he I believe who brought the word to Mohammed. Does this religious iconography coupled with the hunting scenes and peacocks (a symbol of immortality?) on a court carpet tell us something about the mind of the court? I also find the continuity in art and culture of the belief in and portrayal of beings such as genii, angels, sprites, fairies, demons etc., and its refinement to monotheism in various cases, to be fascinating, if you can recommend any reading material I'd be most grateful.

Hope this helps. Thanks again for your interest.

Best regards,

Zach Smith

Persian Rugs the O'Connell Guides

The Qashqai and Qashqai Rugs

Hello Zach,

I am very impressed. I gave up hope ages ago that anyone would ever read Sarre and Trenkwald and ask a question.

The older I get the less I know. In my rash and impetuous youth I saw things in absolutes now I only see shades of gray. I will happily share with you what little I know and understand.

They are Peris (plural of Peri). Angelic beings in the Islamic faith. For all intents and purposes in our discussion Angels.There are also genii. In Islam and Judaism there is a belief in genii. (see Surah of the Ant 27.17et seq , and II Targum of Ester). The belief in genii is not shared by Christians. I will now speak in regards to Islam since Judaic genii are outside of the scope of this discussion. A genii is a spirit being that may serve man or the devil. In Islam the genii inhabit geniistan and are ruled over by Iblis sometimes called Shaitan. Like our devil Iblis was a Angel expelled from heaven but in Islam they teach that Iblis refused to bow to man. This differs dramatically from the Christian view that the devil wanted to be God. The genii are roughly analogous to the fallen angels/demons of Christianity. However in Islam (and judaism) man may gain dominion over genii and use them for good whereas in Christianity man may have dominion over demons but there is no scriptural warrant that I can find that allows us to exploit our dominion over demons for advantage. For example I once had occasion to caste demons out of a young man but I had no Scriptural warrant to then use the demons for my own purposes. I could only cast them out. I suppose from a Christain perspective the interesting question would be are we prohibited from exersizeing dominion over them. Come to think of it dominion is possible as I once found out but is it allowed but if I get into that some might think I am crazy and we wouldn't want that would that would we.

So are the winged spirit beings on the rug Angel or genii. I have to go with Angel. I can find no where in the literature that suggests that the winged beings are ever anything else than Angels. I can not find any mention of genii in the Islamic art literature. I do however find Divs. A div is a demonic being with magical powers and attributes. They like Angel and genii have a potential for salvation or damnation. There appears to be either a area of disagreement in whether or not divs are genii. In Islam both genii and div can procreate with humans. I see no scriptural warrant to suggest anything like that in Christianity. In Islamic 16th century art divs are like humans with monster heads as we can see in the blue div to the left.

On one level the Angels in the kelim are a manifestation of the Islamic world view. The idea that the princely angel is Gabriel is plausible. There is a convention in Islamic art study that the one in the throne being served is called the prince unless we know specifically his name. It is just like in Archeology every female prehistoric statue is called the mother goddess or venus and for some reason no one every assumes the artist was portraying his wife, queen, or mother. Anyway when Mohammed (PBUH) was born it is said angels brought a coverlet for his mother. It was Gabriel the archangel who is said to have delivered the word of Allah to Mohammed (PBUH). At his death it is said that the angel of death gave him a choice of eternal earthly dominion or heaven with Allah. (It is said that Mohammed (PBUH) chose heaven.) I mention these points to show that in the Islamic world view that angels were very close to earth and acted in a wide variety of roles. Additionally like in Christianity angels had a hierarchy. So the angels in the border surround the earthly court of the Safavids. In the Kelim we have the angels in the center medallion surrounded by a royal hunt in the field which is surrounded by angels in the border. The medallion is heaven. The hunt is as close to heaven as we can get in this life and because they are the court the angels in the border watch over the royal court.

To the left we see King Solomon who the Moslems and Jews believe had dominion over man beast, bird, genii and demon. Please note the angels behind the throne and the divs in front.

"According to the Sunni, the Prophets and Apostles were sinless and superior to the angels, and they had the power of performing miracles. Mohammedan angelology and demonology are almost wholly based on later Jewish and early Christian traditions. The angels are believed to be free from all sin; they neither eat nor drink; there is no distinction of sex among them. They are, as a rule, invisible, save to animals, although, at times, they appear in human form. The principal angels are: Gabriel, the guardian and communicator of God's revelation to man; Michael, the guardian of men; Azrail, the angel of death, whose duty is to receive men's souls when they die; and Israfil, the angel of the Resurrection. In addition to these there are the Seraphim, who surround the throne of God, constantly chanting Hispraises; the Secretaries, who record the actions of men; the Observers, who spy on every word and deed of mankind; the Travellers, whose duty it is to traverse the whole earth in order to know whether, and when, men utter the name of God; the Angels of the Seven Planets; the Angels who have charge of hell; and a countless multitude of heavenly beings who fill all space. The chief devil is Iblis, who, like his numerous companions, was once the nearest to God, but was cast out for refusing to pay homage to Adam at the command of God. These devils are harmful both to the souls and to the bodies of men, although their evil influence is constantly checked by Divine interference.

Besides angels and devils, there are also jinns, or genii, creatures of fire, able to eat, drink, propagate, and die; some good, others bad, but all capable of future salvation and damnation." Catholic Encyclopedia

Zach I hope you will forgive me but this is a very rough cut. I would like to answer this in one letter but a book would not be enough. I do not know of any really good book on this to advise. Feel free to ask more or comment if you are still interested. I somehow doubt this thread will have very broad appeal. When I get a chance I still want to get around to where and when and why this kelim was made. There are certainly political and ethnic considerations in the imagery.

Best wishes,
Barry

Winged Genii Portrayed on Classical Carpet Borders

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