- We're standing in front of The Emperor's Carpet,
one of the greatest Persian carpets in the collection
of the Metropolitan Museum.
The carpet was produced in the 16th century,
most likely during the reign of the great Shah of Iran,
Shah Tahmasp.
It is a remarkable carpet, and we can only imagine the impact
it must have made on visitors to the Imperial Court.
Somehow the extraordinary carpet made its way north to Russia,
perhaps through trade, or as a diplomatic gift.
Then around 1700 the carpet was given to the Hapsburgs
in Vienna by Peter the Great.
After various owners, it was purchased
by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1943.
As amazing as it was, it was also very fragile,
and the museum only displayed the emperor's carpet
to the public twice in the next 60 years.
By 2006, we realized that we could only share the carpet
with our public on a regular basis if we were willing
to embark on an ambitious conservation program
that would stabilize its condition.
(music playing)
- The conservators are always tempted to look pretty much
in the details, if possible under microscope,
so you see the condition of the fibers,
you see the condition of the dye, the structural condition.
However, if you look, overall, the condition of this piece,
it's marvelous.
Even so, we have problems, supported by patches.
However, the warp and weft, the pile,
the quality of the fiber, the quality of the dye, so high,
tells us that it was made for a special owner.
We had to start analyzing previous conservation.
And looking mostly at the back of the carpet,
you'll see the lining, first red and rich silk fabric
covering the whole carpet, yet damaged.
Remove that first level, you find another lining.
Now, removing the two layers of fabric, you find
other layers of conservation.
Front and back of this large carpet.
Photography had been done by the Photo Studio
that gives us a clear record of the conservation
previous to our time.
- This the first phase after we remove the lining.
It's covered with over 660 patches, which is the effort
of the previous people who tried to conserve
and preserve this precious carpet.
And then we are removing it, because some of them
are really tightly sewn, or textiles shrunk,
and it's distorting the original structure.
- There's no documentation as to when the patches were put on.
And it's probably over different periods,
because there are several layers of patches.
And a lot of times we remove a patch and then find
a whole bunch of other patches underneath.
- And we collect everything that we lose from the carpet,
which we will use afterwards to do dye analysis.
And we also collect the warp and the weft,
which is actually made out of silk.
The pile is wool.
That's actually one of the reasons why the carpet
is fairly fragile, is because the silk deteriorates
more than the wool.
- And we end up by removing over 700 patches
from this carpet.
After relaxing the carpet, we need to stabilize it.
- We'll back it with wool fabric,
which we're in the process of dying.
We're dying wool in four colors to match
the original colors of the carpet--
the red, the green, a yellow, and a beige.
The dyes of the carpet are natural dyes.
And we're using synthetic dyes,
so already that's a very big difference.
And we went through a process of trying different colors
to match as close as possible.
And we write the recipes for each color
so that we can duplicate it.
And we actually give it out to professional dyers afterwards,
because we need a lot of yardage, and we don't really
have the facility to do that here.
- The next challenge is to assure the perfect bonding
between our new material and the carpet.
The role of the fabric is to support the carpet.
We are preparing for consolidating it.
We have an example in this corner
of damaged area that has been released
from its previous treatment, and that's what we're left with.
There are not many areas like this.
Specific for corners.
Also the center lines, where the carpet must have been folded.
The next part of the process is to attach the fabric
to the carpet.
We have the fabric on the back of the carpet,
preparing for consolidating it.
After this, carpet will move to the loom, face up,
and final stitches will be done from the front.
(music playing)
- I'm trying to document the structure
of this partially preserved selvedge.
Under microscope, I'm looking at the very small fragment
of the selvedge.
Selvedges are on the sides of the carpet,
and they have a very important function,
because they reinforce the entire carpet.
Weavers treated the selvedge differently,
so selvedge can tell us what specific area
or perhaps even manufacturer the carpet was produced in.
There are not too many selvedges survived to our time,
so that's why it's a great source of technical information
for us.
- Finally, after a massive three-year project,
it is laid out in full before us.
The conservation work has consolidated the carpet,
and we clearly see what has made it so dazzling.
There are the beautiful, rich colors
with the central field and a border in a contrasting color.
The central field is a forest of animals,
as if you have come across an amazing landscape
of both real and fantastic creatures.
In the borders are several layers of scrolling arabesques.
And sometimes you find animal heads hidden away
in the foliage.
The Persian calligraphy reinforces the visual language
we see in the carpet.
Its verdant beauty is evoked with verses
like the one that says, "Come, for the breeze of spring
has renewed the promise of the meadow."
Other lines praise the king, calling on him to enjoy
eminence forever.
A carpet of this complexity and beauty
is really only possible by the 16th century in Iran,
when technical innovations such as the cultivation of silk
and the knowledge about dyes had developed alongside
the extraordinary aesthetic sophistication
of the Safavid court.
It is so exciting that now,
as a result of this conservation campaign,
the public can experience the carpet as never before.
(music playing)