Lion and Sword III

Islamic Art Now: Contemporary Art of the Middle East
© Parviz Tanavoli
My gallery Comment Tag Order Photography*
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Lion and Sword III

1976
Textiles
Bijar weave
62 3/16 × 90 7/8 in. (157.99 × 230.89 cm)
Gift of Hope Warschaw through the 2018 Collectors Committee (M.2018.118.1)
Not currently on public view

Curator Notes

...
One of the founders of the Saqqakhana school, Parviz Tanavoli, in his "lion and sword" carpets, made use of a typically Persian medium while focusing on a traditional emblem of kingship and the Iranian state—a lion with the sun rising from its back. Given that the lion and sun with sword was the symbol of Pahlavi Iran, its use in the carpets, including with what appears to be an antique lock on the animal’s hind leg, suggests a subtle form of political commentary; it also reinforces the inherent Shi‘ism of the image.
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Bibliography

  • Komaroff, Linda. In the Fields of Empty Days: The Intersection of Past and Present in Iranian Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Munich; New York: DelMonico Books-Prestel, 2018.
  • Komaroff, Linda. In the Fields of Empty Days: The Intersection of Past and Present in Iranian Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Munich; New York: DelMonico Books-Prestel, 2018.
  • Balaghi, Shiva. "Mining the Past." Canvas 14, no.4 (2018): 114-117.
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