Weiner Mihályné szerk.: Az Iparművészeti Múzeum Évkönyvei 12. (Budapest, 1970)
IPARMŰVÉSZETI MÚZEUM — MUSÉE DES ARTS DÉCORATIFS - Egyed, Edit: On a Textile from the Safavid Period
it can be stated that the place of production of the studied and related stuff is North-West Persia. When the ornamentations are considered, the most relics resembling in ornamentation can be found among the woven and rather the knotted carpets. The place of production of most of these is defined as N. W. or Eastern Persia. Most of the scenes are representations of animal fights. The identification of the species of the woven animals could not be dciphered in all cases of our coat as the differences in the design due to different periods and regions influences rather dominantly the animal representations. Looking for historical relics, we can mention that the representation of fighting animals had already been a favourite subject even in the centuries B. C. Picking out some of the known representations, it can be mentioned that on the Scythian finds of Gornoaltai (Siberia, 3rd—2nd centuries B.C.) the following animals appear: on a saddle-cover 6 : a winged hon attacks a lamb, elsewhere 7 a bird of px v ey attacks a moose 8 , a panther attacks a reindeer, a winged lion attacks a horse, on a gold plate a panther rushes at a moose, in another representation on a leather ornamentation of the saddle-cover griffons fight 0 (one is eagle-formed, the other lion-formed); again on another saddle-cover 10 : a griffon attacks on an artiodactyl. on a mountain lamb. On the Hun finds from the tumuli of Noin Ula (Mongolia, 3rd—1st c. B. C.) the following fights can be noticed: a yak fights an antlered lion (application on a carpet); on another animal fight representation in a similar style 13 a yak fights an antlered lion or tiger. This scene can be seen in applications on felt carpets. 14 Similarly, the representation of a griffon pouncing on a reindeer can be observed on an applied ornament of a carpet. The representation of attacks of beasts of prey on artiodactyls goes back to ancient times, and can be wittnessed from the 3rd mjillenium B.C. In the first mülenium B.C. this subject was widely spread in Mesopotamia, from there it reached Asia Minor and Greece, on the other hand, through the Sakas it go to South Siberia and to the Altai, and even further eastward, to the Hun empire. If the selected examples are considered, the way seems almost direct to Persia, where the representation of animals, in particular that of their fights had such a great cult. They can be found on works — of nearly all forms of 6 Rudenko: op. cit. fig. 56, 7 Rudenko: op. cit. fig. 73. 8 Rudenko: op. cit. fig. 90. 9 Rudenko: op. cit. fig. 112a. Í0 Rudenko: op. cit. fig. 113. U Rudenko, S. I.: Kul'tura khunov i noinulinskie kurgany. Moscow—Leningrad, 19G2. 12 Rudenko: Kul'tura . . . tables XLII and XLIII. 13 Rudenko: Kul'tura .. . table LXXII, 2. 1'' Rudenko: Kul'tura . . . tables XLIV and XLV. tő inv. No.: 62.89.1. Jajczay János: Egy kiállítás szőnyegei. (The carpets of an exhibition.) Művészettörténeti Értesítő 1968. No. 1—2.
