A safavid 'Spiral vine' Esfahan carpet, central persia, mid to second haft of the 17th century. Ca 562 x 231 cm

This carpet, with its rolling vines, is called "spiral-vine" or "in and out palmette" and is from Isfahan during the Safavid dynasty (1502–1736). The pattern appeared during the reign of Shah Abbas (1588–1629), a period that has gone down in history as the golden age of the Persian carpet. The Persian capital was moved during this period to Isfahan in central Persia, where the Shah established court workshops to produce exceptional carpets for export, diplomatic gifts and for the Persian nobility. The Persian carpets were relatively unusual in Europe with the exception of Spain and Portugal. The carpets depiction among Old Master paintings meant that these were collected to the same extent during the two last centuries. Edmond de Rothschild, J.P Morgan, Henry Clay Frick and William A. Clark all collected 17th century carpets. Compare the border in both Diego Velázquez's painting from 1659 of Philip Prospero, Prince of Asturias and Pieter van Anraedt's ‘Six regents and the housemaster of the Oude Zijds Almshouse for the outdoor relief of the poor’ with the present carpet.