Sarajevska kermanska halija (tepih) iz Mahana

The main focus of this work is a 17th century Safavid carpet in the collection of the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The present article seeks to show all aspects of the great value of this carpet. The first thing that the author examines is the cause of its arrival to Sarajevo and after a brief historical overview the author comes to the conclusion that the carpet was a part of Austro-Hungarian cultural policy in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Stylistic and formal analysis shows that the carpet belongs to the group of Persian vase carpets with multiple-medallions design. This extraordinary masterpiece was finished not in 1067 AH (1656 AD), as Arthur Upham Pope suggested, but in 1047 AH (1637/38 AD). On the basis of historical sources it was possible to conclude that this carpet was made for and placed in Shayh Ni‘matullah Walī Shrine in Mahan, Iran. At the end of the paper the author suggests that the patron was a member of the noble Mīrmirān family.