Wonders of Imperial Carpets: Masterpieces from the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha /
Palace Museum /
Hong Kong /
Jun 6 – Oct 6, 2025 /
A carpet exhibition might sound like something reserved for a niche audience, but the extraordinary Wonders of Imperial Carpets: Masterpieces from the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha at the Palace Museum is so full of surprises and so well curated that it’s one of the most stimulating shows Hong Kong has seen in a while.
The stars of the exhibition are, as the title implies, carpets from Safavid Iran, Ottoman Türkiye and Mughal Hindustan, the three Islamic empires of the early modern period. They’re accompanied by ceramics, metalwork, glasswork, maps, illuminated copies of the Quran and jades, spanning eight centuries, mostly from modern-day Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, China, Iran and Türkiye. A number of ceramics from Central Asia are also on show, on loan from Doha, mostly from the Timurid period (1370-1507).
The aesthetic and cultural dialogue in this vast region was extensive and fertile. Chinese blue and white porcelain, for example, was deeply appreciated throughout Europe, the Levant and beyond. The exchange was definitely not one-way only. Chinese blue and white, developed during the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty (1271-1368), for example, would not have been possible without cobalt being imported from the Kashan region of Persia – which is why, for a long time, it was called “Muslim blue”. A blue and white candlestick from the Palace Museum in Beijing, decorated with a flower motif and made in the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen during the Yongle period of the Ming dynasty (1403-24), is on display next to a brass and mother-of-pearl candlestick from the 12th century, produced in Persia’s Khurasan region, with a nearly identical shape, decorated with calligraphic elements and entwined vine leaves, which cover the whole surface.
This kind of crossover influence is visible in the carpets as well: a very beautiful, large carpet woven at the royal workshop in Tabriz, Iran in the mid-16th century, called the Rothschild Medallion Carpet, has a large central medallion decorated with intertwined floral motifs in vibrant red, interspersed with black, azure and yellow. All around the central medallion is what is known as a “cloud-band” decoration, a direct descendant of the auspicious xiangyun clouds that have been such a recurrent element in classical Chinese art since the Eastern Zhou dynasty (771-256 BC), with many variations on a steadily recognisable theme. Here, this quintessntially Chinese motif is stretched in an undulating band, interspersed with small, white, spiral-like clouds, bringing this Chinese symbol of heavenly blessings far into the world. In Chinese mythology, they are said to be created by dragons’ breath – but in their exported version, they are transposed on the carpets as a connection between heaven and hearth. Some of the carpets on show represent classical Islamic gardens, which were meant to represent paradise, and including cloud bands in these depictions adds an extra celestial element. The same cloud band is also visible in an illuminated Quran from the 15th century, also from Iran, in which a series of medallions and cartouches in gold and sky blue are surrounded by swirling puffs of cloud.
A tureen with lid and plate from Doha, produced in Jingdezhen during the 18th century, which was formerly in the Topkapı palace in Istanbul, is a very fine example of the lengths to which producers of export wares produced in China made sure to follow the requirements of their far-away courtly clients. It is decorated with a blue glaze scattered with golden stars and crescent moons, and has white cartouches inscribed with verses from the Qu’ran in nastaliq style, a callagraphic script used in Arabic, Persian and other languages.
But China, too, was not only interested in Persian cobalt, and imperial taste-makers were seduced by some of the decorative objects produced by their contemporaries: a bowl with acanthus leaf handles, produced in the 17th century in Mughal Hindustan, now in the collection of the Palace Museum, was cherished by the Qing dynasty’s emperor Qianlong (ruled 1735-96), who inscribed upon it a poem of appreciation. The Chinese court was also quite taken by the Mughal style in general and reproduced it in various precious objects – like a jade snuff bottle, also on show, from the Qianlong period.
Some of the same patterns and colours that were used throughout the era covered by the exhibition were also adapted to ceramic tiles and other types of textile beyond carpets, modified through the centuries by the increasing exchanges along the land and maritime Silk Roads. It was a long thread of communication and mutual influence, knotted into some of the most spectacular carpets in history.
天方奇毯⸺伊斯蘭與世界文明的交織
故宮文化博物館
香港
2025年6月18日至10 月6日
地毯展聽似專為小眾愛好者而設，然而正在香港故宮文化博物館舉辦的《天方奇毯⸺伊斯蘭與世界文明的交織》卻堪稱驚喜連連。其策展之精妙，使之成為香港近期最引人入勝的展覽之一。
正如展覽名稱所示，是次展出的核心珍品源自近代早期三大伊斯蘭王朝：薩法維伊朗、鄂圖曼土耳其和莫臥兒印度的地毯。與此些地毯一同展出的，還有陶瓷、金屬器物、玻璃器、地圖、《可蘭經》鍍金手抄本以及玉器。所有展品時間跨度達八個世紀，主要來自現今的巴基斯坦、阿富汗、印度、中國、伊朗和土耳其。展品中還包含一批來自中亞地區的陶瓷，多屬帖木兒時期（1370-1507年），悉數由杜哈伊斯蘭藝術博物館借展。
這片廣袤區域內的美學與文化交流廣泛且深遠。以中國青花瓷為例，其在整個歐洲、黎凡特乃至更廣闊領域都備受推崇。此種文化交流從來不是單向的。中國青花瓷發展於蒙古人統治的元朝（1271-1368年），若沒有從波斯卡尚地區輸入的鈷料，斷無可能誕生——這正是青花瓷長期被稱為「回青」的由來。展陳中，一件北京故宮博物院藏的明永樂時期（1403-1424年）景德鎮禦窯青花花卉紋燭台，與一件十二世紀波斯呼羅珊地區製作的黃銅嵌珍珠母燭台比鄰而置。兩者形狀幾乎一模一樣，後者通體飾以書法元素與纏繞藤蔓紋樣。
此類跨界影響在地毯中也清晰可見：一條極為華美的、織造於16世紀中期伊朗大不裡士皇家作坊的大型地毯——羅斯柴爾德開光紋地毯，便是佳例。地毯中央巨大的開光紋內，飾以鮮紅色為底、間以玄黑、天青與明黃色的交織花卉紋飾。環繞中心開光的是所謂的「雲帶紋」，其式樣直接傳承自東周時期（西元前771-256年）便盛行於中國古典藝術中的祥雲紋樣，在保持主題可辨的基礎上演化出諸多變體。在此，這個極具中國特色的圖案被延展為波浪形帶狀紋飾，其間點綴著細小、潔白、螺旋狀的雲朵，將這種象徵天佑的中華符號遠播世界。在中國神話中，祥雲被視為龍的氣息所化——而作為文化輸出時，這些雲紋被轉譯到地毯上，成為連接天堂與人間煙火的紐帶。展出的部分地毯呈現了經典的伊斯蘭花園圖式（旨在象徵天堂），而雲帶紋的融入更為整體增添了空靈意境。同樣的雲帶紋亦可見於一部同樣來自伊朗的15世紀鍍金《可蘭經》，經頁上一系列以金箔與天青繪就的開光紋和卷草紋飾，被渦卷流雲環繞其間。
一件來自杜哈的帶蓋湯碗與託盤，燒制於18世紀景德鎮，曾收藏於伊斯坦布爾托普卡帕宮，實為中國外銷瓷器生產商為滿足遠方宮廷客戶要求而竭盡所能的典範。此套器皿以藍釉裝飾，釉面點綴金色星月紋飾，並以白色卷草紋裝飾，內刻有納斯塔利格體《可蘭經》經文，此種書法體常用於書寫阿拉伯語、波斯語等多種語言。
然而中國所感興趣的也遠不止波斯的鈷料。皇室品位之決策者，同樣為同時代其他文明的裝飾品所傾心：一隻產自17世紀莫臥兒印度、帶有葉形雙柄的碗，現為故宮博物院藏品，便曾深得清乾隆皇帝（1735-1796年在位）喜愛，並禦提詩文於上以示讚賞。中國宮廷對莫臥兒風格整體頗為青睞，並在各類珍玩中加以複刻——如展場內一件乾隆時期的翡翠鼻煙壺，便是此種風格的體現。
是次展覽所涵蓋時代中流行的某些紋樣與色彩，亦被轉化應用於瓷磚及其他紡織品類，遠不局限於地毯。通過陸海絲綢之路上日益頻繁的交流，這些紋樣在數個世紀中不斷演變。這根交流與相互影響的長線，最終編織成歷史長河中最為瑰麗的地毯。