Brocaded velvet with figural design

Some of the most splendid and elaborate Iranian velvet textiles with figural design were produced for the Safavid court during the 11th century AH/17th century CE. This silk textile fragment, originally of much larger size and possibly used to decorate walls or as screen for outdoor gatherings, is characterised by an extremely fine velvet pile, metal thread brocade, and metal loops replacing the silk pile in some areas. The large female figures are accompanied by a pair of dogs and a falcon resting on the hand of the figure on the left. They walk rightward amidst floral sprouts and larger branches with pointed leaves and blooming flowers. While their arched posture resembles the ideal female portraits en vogue in this period among Safavid artists, their attires shows European inspiration. Due to the presence of the falcon and the dogs, it has been proposed to identify the figures as huntresses. The theme of the hunt is a common topos in Persian poetry, often associated with love and mystical imageries. By looking at this and other textiles with similar design, their contemporaries might probably have enjoyed the conflation of artistic and literary motifs, taking pleasure from the network of poetic images and literary references that could have emerged from their memory.
A number of fragments of this velvet were reputedly preserved in the treasury of Maharajahs of Jaipur and are now dispersed among different museum collections worldwide.