Conserving the Emperor's Carpet
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 23 เม.ย. 2013
- The magnificent sixteenth-century Emperor's Carpet from Safavid Iran was acquired by the Metropolitan Museum in 1941, but its condition was so fragile that it was only displayed for public twice over the next sixty years. This video documents the ambitious three-year conservation program that was launched in 2006 to stabilize the condition of the carpet so its lustrous wools and dazzling colors can be displayed the Museum on a regular basis.
Featured speakers: Sheila Canby, Florica Zaharia, Midori Sato, Yael Rosenfeld, Janina Poskrobko
The Emperor’s Carpet; second half 16th century; silk (warp and weft), wool (pile; asymmetrically pile; Rug: L. 299 in. (759.5 cm), W. 133 1/2 in. (339.1 cm), Wt. on a 10" tube: 144 lbs. (65.3 kg)
Learn more about this artwork: www.metmuseum.org/art/collect...
© 2013 The Metropolitan Museum of Art
#TheMet #art #museum #history #NewYork #Islamic #carpet #conservation
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aaaand you might want to cover that with a glass pane. tourists can be such savage beasts
not to mention the dust.
I was thinking the same but so that poeple can walk over the glass
@@bevandarke2300 That would be amazing!
They put up barriers around the carpet. They just weren’t up yet when they filmed this.
🙄🙄🙄 jeeze you're cringey
The way they matched up the colors for the backing is fucking genius. I'm absolutely blown away by that.
Imagine, how many needle stitches these patient ladies had to do, all day and every day.
I really respect their effort and expertise.
If only more people felt the same way.
@@ThePayola123 we do. the ones who care. 🙏
That rug really tied the room together
Hahahaha
The Dude abides man!
if the shah saw this today he'd propably say: "oh my old carpet. why all this work, i used to have hundreds of these..."
averagepainter 🤣😂true he would be too rich to care
Shah Tahmasb was a real patron of art who left amazing masterpieces in almost every field of art.
Except there isn’t much left these days
He would also be amazed by our phones and be desperate to have one, and people would say "what? There are millions of these..."
No. This was unique.
imagine making that strand by strand...
It is actually knot by knot. They tie knots to create a single carpet.
Its still done in iran, it takes years and several people.
Imagine making the strands.
Many, many people worked on it as a team, and I'm guessing it took quite a while.
Several years of intense labor. You need spinners, to make the yarn, dyers to dye it, a draftsman to make the pattern, and people to cut and tie the yarns. It's incredibly laborious, it's worth three or four times it's weight in gold in terms of the manpower and time it required.
I'm a little disappointed that you didn't show a restored part so we could see what you did. Great video otherwise, congratulations to all those patient people who made it possible.
5 years: the time it takes a team of highly skilled artisans to perform a conservation on a fabled rug. 5 seconds: the time it takes for my dog to decide to piss on it.
This needs more likes
I'd love to know the price of these restorations, simply for the fact it shows how much effort and value the MET puts into making wonderful exhibits. Honestly, the MET is hands down my favorite place in NYC. It's magical.
Rachel Stephens
I conserved many fine antique and fine art of mine. It is very expensive when done by highly trained and real consevators. I would not be surprised if this conservation to cost at least $150,000.
Well this carpet is literally worth $34 Million USD. so I would say a $500,000 conservative effort would even be a bargain
@heldgop Well if you see to the side the conservation started in 2006
Scientists make a lot less then you think. I know many researchers at R1 universities that make less than 100k a year.
Yes, after watching these conservation films, I will never cheap out on how much I pay at the Met ever again. I can't blame people who have to (they deserve to view beautiful art too), but I will use my relative financial privilege to pay for the extraordinary and usually hidden work of conservation. ❤️
I'm from Iran and I'm really impressed by the effort 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 I was so happy when they wrote in farsi 😁
We are so lucky to have these amazing people doing tediously perfect restorations so that future generations can admire the beauty that was seemingly so prevalent in the past.
“This, milord, is my family's axe. We have owned it for almost nine hundred years, see. Of course, sometimes it needed a new blade. And sometimes it has required a new handle, new designs on the metalwork, a little refreshing of the ornamentation . . . but is this not the nine hundred-year-old axe of my family? And because it has changed gently over time, it is still a pretty good axe, y'know. Pretty good.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Fifth Elephant
Ship of Theseus
@@BlargMuffins Or the Argo, but again, much older than the 20th century.
@Teekoness: 1000 thumbs up for quoting the brilliant Terry Pratchett!
@@Frankowillo Right back at you for being a Pratchett fan.
Teekoness pretty sure Pratchett was inspired by the story of Trigger's broom in only fools and horses, which predates his book.
if it were my mom she would give it a good cleaning with water and soap hahaha
brcmano That would be the end of the carpet hehehe!
Oh my god lmaaooo I cringed so hard just reading that but my dad would probably do the same thing :)
I wouldn't do anything, too lazy.
@@itstime4050 lol!
Well. That put a tear to my eye. Just imagining the civilization that brought forth that piece of art, and the imagining how that civilization has fared over the centuries.
1:57 when the carpet was being uncovered I thought to myself: walking on it would be like stepping on golden and red grass.
I wish this had been done the way the Victoria and Albert Museum does their restoration videos....we actually get to see them restoring objects and fabrics, not just the finished product. I would love to have seen how they restored all of the threadbare areas, if they did any stitching or if they simply anchored those areas to the secure areas of wool, and how they managed the selvage. Oh, well. An amazing opportunity missed!
700 patches! It has obviously been treasured and appreciated for over 500 years! I would have loved this to be a longer video showing more of the process.
Absolutely beautiful, well done to the conservators
@AndreaLuise Ca. I’ve no idea what rubbish you are talking about 💩
Absolutely beautiful! Fascinating story about the restoration of the carpet...
Beautiful rug with amazing colors, great craftsmanship taken to restoring rug. Great video 👍👍
Exquisite, what an amazing amount of work. You are to be congratulated on the completion!
Marvelous. The technical prowess of the team is superb. What an undertaking. It is to be commended.
بیا که عهد چمن تازه کرد باد بهار
as a persion i know about the visual language used in this carpet also can read the poems in it ...oh man..what a masterpiece
What does it say?
"as a person" ???
Lol it said as a person lol
They obviously mean "as a Persian".
Cooper Olm I think we realize that it’s just funny...
Fabulous! Amazing stabilization. Thanks for sharing this.
That was quite a feat. Congratulations to all who worked on this project!
so good. Thank you metmuseume. i'm Carpet Desiner and Persian.
If you were actually Iranian you would know this is not a fucking carpet, it's a farsh, or rug in english
@@jadelee6555 he never said it's a carpet. He just said he's a carpet designer. You are stupider than a buffoon!
@@jadelee6555 he never said it's a carpet. He just said he's a carpet designer. You are stupider than a buffoon!
India was a big coustomer of inranian carpet during monark era...
Can you send me A message please?
We always talk about Mozart, Bach, Da Vinci and more, but the artist who created this carpet must be a huge and humble man not to be remembered though the Persian culture of mesmerising carpet is still number one of the world. Thank you Persia for this.
What a magnificent carpet! Just imagine that in its original state, it is jaw dropping!
wow..absolutely incredible restoration!
Well it doesn’t fly so is not that great
I bet it could fall with style
Ian West Horton
r/whoosh
The phoenix feathers must've slipped out of the weaving sometime in the last five or six hundred years.
- jUnGsH00k - not a r/whoooosh buddy
Shhhhh, thats the sound the falling carpet is making r/whooosh
Wonderful,,, Thanks for taking care of our world’s heritage,,🌷🙏🙏
It wound up in Vienna in the 19th century and then yadda yadda yadda the met bought it in 1943.
Sketch af
The Hapsburg's stuff was seized by the Nazis, perhaps the Nazis sold off excess, a Persian carpet doesn't exactly scream Aryan supremacy.
willcwhite happens all the time. Antique's roadshow only exists because expensive and luxurious items have been handed down and sold random people
The number of historical pieces Europe and England has stolen from the middle east is honestly shameful.
Jade Lee not to mention the destruction and genocide.
Jade Lee Just about every country has conquered and pillaged
What a beautiful piece of functional art.
I'm completely geeking out after watching this! What an undertaking this project was! But I wish they'd shown a "before" and "after" (new) repair, which we didn't really get to see. My fantasy job has always been to be an art conservator, specifically a textile conservator at a major museum. (Rugs/Textiles are what I get the most excited abt on "Antiques Roadshow", in addition to Jewelry!)
Very cool. Crazy how these carpets last so long, and likely with actual use for most of the time they've existed.
Amazing! Thank you!
That's actually pretty old rug, people step and spill porridge and wine in it, but you guys doing it well.. Really that's amazing!
Amazing. I would love to have seen the conserved, tattered corner.
So beautiful.
wow... just incredible
When an object is so badly damaged, one cannot avoid thinking about the Theseus's Paradox (or Ship of Theseus) as to ponder at what point something can be called original when (little by little) each piece is replaced. I wonder if rather than trying to repair (and further modifcate) the object, wouldn't be better to conserve the object and, in any case, make a very faithful and new recreation to display, as to showcase the work. In some cases this is not possible (techniques that have been lost, materials that are no longer available, no longer having the kind of masters required to execute certain works) but when it is possible I think it is a viable option.
I agree. I'm not a fan of retouching old works of art. They should be conserved and stabalised to make sure they don't continue to deteriorate, but other than that their damages shouldn't be repaired by introducing materials that didn't initially belong to the piece, not even to make it look the way it originally did.
I agree 100%, if they can get it stable with minimal modifications as opposed to stabilizing it so that they can repair it that’d be awesome.
Problem is, craftsmen like me (metal and wood mostly, leather is too easy to mention) are a dying breed. I got lucky and found a master craftsman who was looking for an apprentice so I’m learning a lot and sacrificing a lot to do so (in the process I’ve gotten to work on some very cool projects). However people will eventually want a family heirloom of some sort reproduced and I’ll be around to do it.
All conservation and restoration done to works of art today are reversible, so at any time a work can be returned to the state it was in before they began work on it. The idea of conservation and restoration is to bring a work to a point where it can be studied and enjoyed without the intrusion of the condition hampering that.
that is exactly what they did in this case. they removed all the patching and put an underside on the carpet to hold it together and stabilize the carpet. the original carpet can be seen on top, untouched and partly destroyed (holes and such, they just aren’t as visible thanks to the matching underside).
The Triggers Broom paradox!
If the Shah saw it today, he would probably say” I thought I threw that crap away after I tripped over it “
Sometimes art conservation is funny this carpet was made to be walked on but we keep it displayed its hundreds of years old and plenty of feet have walked over it
Leah Bana We dont let people walk over it because of its age; the stress would ruin it
R u joking??? We don't use the pharaohs' thrones as chairs for the public to sit on..... why should this be any different?
We don't use old swords to kill people, do we?
@@alifarjam8739 I think they just meant it's ironic that something meant to be walked on is now being treated as art.
Extraordinary beauty.
So beautiful! Yep put it in the wall to look at.
Beautiful
i wanna just hang it up over the fence and give it a good beating lol
That is so beautiful! Animism on a rug.
Gorgeous
Awesome
Amazing!!
Man that rug really ties the room together
That's a beautiful carpet
I love this so much.
That is stunning 😍
Can u imagine ruining something like this while restoring it?
Rima Wasabi she spilled her coffee
the secrets spilt while repairing this omg
It kind of looks like a Persian carpet I had in my house.
A persian carpet that looks like a persian carpet? No way!
Wow just wow 😮
This is like the art version of Boyhood.
What's the maximum distance it can cover?
Jokes aside, i salute all of these crafty and patient ladies for having restored this piece of cultural heritage. Iran salutes you. Thank you.
Light attracts Light - Beauty awakens Beauty. A Masterpiece of Craftsmanship - how I would love to read the world famous poem 'The Ruba'iya't of Omar Khayya'm' beside this gem of equal Genius
Charles Mugleston Omar Khayyam Theatre Company
They’ve done an incredible job but it would be better off displayed in its original country where the ruler was not out of there ... though I understand the museum purchased it but yet I think every place needs to have its historical collection because it is through these resources we learn about their culture, norm, beliefs , trade and so much more...
Then they shouldn't have given it away hundreds of years ago
Someone noticed the beautiful music that is heard in the background, do you the name of the piece of music ?
The Most great Job
Magnificent .
Conservation is so fascinating!
Old carpets have poems on the top of carpets like this one
Love It
What an incredible task! Almost as daunting as the making of this masterpiece. What a piece of luck it ended up at the Met where it is conserved, and not some dusty foreign castle with a thousand feet walking on it unconcerned. Magnificent work of restoration! Thank you for sharing.
FYI - 4:43 The two ladies wearing the gorgeous Sudanese amber/ copal necklace and handmade cotton blouses were noticed, and duly appreciated! Beautiful fabrics, both of them!
Yeahhh Prrsion carpets still number one in whole world .
I was there in June 2019, and they were clever enough to put a barriers around it cause many could’ve stepped on it by accident.
Iran still produce such piece of arts. I also have such carpets imported from Iran. It's a speciality there to make such awesome carpets. They are all hand made instead of machines and that's why expensive. They are very hard to wash 😁😁
i wonder what kind of art would be found in the 21st century worth restoring like this 500 years from now
A truly sacred relic of the Imperium.
wish more detail was shown when sewing...unless the holes were kept or were they restored?
These hard and tiedees reapered areas where not even pointed out. I certainly hope that the public is not stepping on it !!! It is a Masterpice !
I wonder how much this would have cost and how long it would have taken if they'd just tried to reproduce / copy the carpet from scratch using exact photographs of all the patterns, animals etc. Is this even possible?
daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn.. those are some patchy patches hah
The silk lining is remakable as are the 70 patches which were applied to preserve the rug.
I'm curious to know why they didn't use natural dye for the restoration? Wouldn't that uphold the integrity of this magnificent piece of history?
Would really appreciate it if any conservator viewer could answer :)
not a conservator but I've watched a fair few videos -- particularly on old paintings they often use synthetic dyes because natural dyes age over time - so there's no telling how the carpet might change vs the dye. Using synthetics means it is easier to control and predict how the dye will age, so future conservation is easier. Plus they're not actually adding the synthetic dye to the carpet itself - just to the backing/lining which is intended to match the existing dye.
Synthetic dyes are subject to the same conditions as natural, namely moths, sun, people , & time. Thom Joyce
I think it would have been hard to replicate the exact color with natural dyes because the dye process of those times might have been forgotten/lost.
Resources available and the procedures to exact match the dyes are probably much easier to create synthetically than organically would be my guess.
Its to actually differentiate between the old and the new zones, conservation work isn't making the piece like new, it's making it durable to be shown to the public and survive another 500 years.
I am glad they restore and maintain these historical items but to be honest with you I would not want to own anything that fragile. You can only look at it and admire it but also worry that something will happen to it, I would be anxious all the time. Anyway, great video by dedicated people.
WOW, the sheer SIZE of the carpet! In addition to noting that the carpet was made for a special owner @ 1:54 , how about acknowledging the master artisans that made the carpet?!
I wonder how long it took to make the carpet in the first place. Five years?
Many people are bot aware that of silk and wool, silk is far more prown to deterioration called silk rot. You find it within collections of US election campaign paraphernalia such as ribbons and patches. The silk basically gets so fragile that it has no tnsil strength. The wool would be prone to failure due to the effects of dirt and grime on cutting the haors or insects festing on it. Sometimes the dye used can have an effect to introduces acids to the wool whicj may increase the amount of failure so having bald spots among pile that remains.
I have one just like this except a bit smaller. More a 3'x 4'. From Home Depot.
The designs used in Persian carpets have come down to us to this day. So, yes, your little rug belongs to the same tradition.
cool
Yeah but did you use fully reversible heat-solvent activated resin varnish and Belgian linen on the tacking edge?
Nice carpet to walk on
What happened to the bold red lining which was removed from the back of the carpet?
Apparently “Mr Bean” was in charge of fixing that piece.
I’d love to know the total cost of this restoration?
We don’t need no stinkin’ patches!
Was there any further restoration to the patched areas?
I understand, Thank you.
cant save everything and this looks done to me.
Will it be hanged an a wall or put on the floor?
I would expect it to be on the wall, unless they plan to have some kind of armor glass over the floor.
Did someone say The Emperor's Carpet. Wow.
Have the museum custodian get out the old Dirt Devil vacuum and give that carpet a good sweep.
too bad they did not show the pretty damaged areas after the restoration
The quality of carpet fiber is because they fiber is a natural fiber and iran has the best ones.
I wonder if in the future that art made in 21st century has survived as well as this carpet?