Readings of this motif
Scholars and makers disagree about what this motif means. The readings below are presented side by side; none is endorsed as the settled answer.
- A prayer-rug niche.
- An architectural arch used decoratively.
How to recognise it
Look for the Prayer niche (mehrabi) as a repeated unit rather than a single image: its scale, density and the way it sits in a border or field often tell you more about workshop and region than the form alone. The same motif crosses weaving, metal, tile and painting, so a match is a starting point for comparison, never proof of origin.
Used in these crafts
A hand-knotted pile textile woven across Iran in city workshops, village looms and pastoral camps, distinguished by regional structure, palette and design vocabulary.
Square polychrome tiles painted with several overglaze colours and fired together, allowing large architectural schemes to be produced faster than cut tile mosaic.
A technique of architectural revetment in which monochrome glazed tiles are cut into small individual pieces to a template and set together, glaze face down, into a mortar bed to form complex polychrome patterns and inscriptions.