The small octagonal tent, created as late as 1900, served as a garden pavilion, or fabric gazebo, that offered a shady retreat form the hot sun. Featuring intricate velvet and embroidered designs, this pleasure tent was ideal for outdoor activities. With a central pol, tents such as this are depicted in Persian art from the e13th century, although their origins undoubtedly go back before that time.
The “persistence of tribal memory” is an important component of the arts of Islam. Even after nomadic peoples had settled down in cities and towns for generations, deeply-ingrained nomadic customs and art forms endured. The ongoing production of pile carpets, and decorated portable architecture such as tents, attests to a continuing tradition of artistic expression which in Iran lasted well into the 20th century.
Take a behind-the-scenes look at at the installation of one of two Persian pleasure tents for our newest exhibition in the video below and see this tent for yourself in The Carpet and the Connoisseur on view in our main exhibition galleries, East Building, through May 8, 2016.