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Cypress Tree Motif Final

The cypress tree has long held symbolic meaning representing life, eternity, and resilience in many cultures including ancient Persia and Mughal India. It is frequently depicted in art forms such as miniature paintings, carpets, pottery, and architecture, where it signifies sanctity, freedom, and spiritual status. The cypress motif has been an enduring symbol that has been adapted and spread across regions through cultural exchange and artistic traditions.

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340 views27 pages

Cypress Tree Motif Final

The cypress tree has long held symbolic meaning representing life, eternity, and resilience in many cultures including ancient Persia and Mughal India. It is frequently depicted in art forms such as miniature paintings, carpets, pottery, and architecture, where it signifies sanctity, freedom, and spiritual status. The cypress motif has been an enduring symbol that has been adapted and spread across regions through cultural exchange and artistic traditions.

Uploaded by

harram khurram
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Folio from British Library’s Masnavī of Humāy u Humāyūn

Cypress Tree Motif

By Harram Khurram Khankhail


“ let no river than the fountain of light nourish her
stature resembling to a cypress, and which is a young
plant in the garden of grace ”

Ghazal 493 (Hafiz Shirazi)


What is a Cypress?
Cypress, any of 12 species of
ornamental and timber
evergreen conifers
constituting the genus
Cupressus of the family
Cupressaceae, distributed
throughout warm-temperate
and subtropical regions of
Asia, Europe, and North
America. (Britannica)
The story of cypress
The history of cypress from ancient times to now.
Among the trees, cypress has received wide attention in the beliefs, arts,
and literature of Iranians for its special features such as being tall,
evergreen, and adaptable to the warm and dry climate of Iran (Jahan
Pour, 2016).
It is said that every tree goes through perfection, or falls into gradual
decline. Unlike any other tree, the cypress is always green. On this
ground,the word cypress is used to describe free-minded
people”(AlIbrahim Dehkordi, 2016,107).
The meanings of cypress represent its mythological and symbolic
dimensions.In the Achaemenid and Sasanian periods, the cypress tree
was known as the tree of life. For the Zoroastrian civilization Cypress
was a symbol of life and eternity . Cypress tree symbolizes life after
death. The continuation of life in place and the continuation of place in
life.
Cypress Motif in Persia

The Sassanian dynasty ruled modern-day Iran around


225 CE, with strong Greek, Roman, and Zoroastrian
influences. Zoroastrian worship mainly consisted of
worship of an urn of fire, surrounded by two
immensely tall cypress trees. As the religion developed,
cypress branches were incorporated into the fire
ceremonies, often burned in the urn.
Cypresses were planted around temples and graves; in
fact, the oldest cypress is 4000 years old, the Cypress of
Kashmar on the Uber Mountain in Iran.
Persepolis relief showing cypress
tree and the immortal guard.
Image from SOAS
Symbolism in mythology and
Ancient literature
In classical Persian and Turkish literature the cypress is
always compared with the body of the beloved one in
regard to its tallness, thinness and in regard to its gentle
swaying in the wind.
The cypress is often mentioned in classical Persian poetry
as a distinguished garden tree and occurs in a variety of
metaphors referring to the graceful figure and stately gait
of the beloved.
Medieval Islamic Arts
With the advent of Islam, the symbolic world went through some
changes. After Islam, the art field of wisdom and philosophy in Iran was
inspired by some form of ancient thoughts and beliefs. This arena along
with its own arts and worldview promoted a value through which Persia
was recognized as the pioneer of wisdom and art” (Farbod &Tavousi,
2002).
Prominent among cypress motifs in the art of the Islamic period is the
well-known bot(t)a jeqqa(ʾī) or būta ḵerqaʾī, which often occurs on shawls
(termas), carpets, and other textiles and is believed by some scholars to
be a stylized pyramidal cypress with the top bent by the wind
(Lajard,Nafīsī, Ḥejāzī, Nīlūfarī).
Ceramic and pottery
The cypress trees on tiles and pottery were used
either in combination with human or animals.
In the first case, the image of the cypress tree was
drawn next to humans to signify spiritual status and
symbolize freedom and stability. In combination
with animals such as birds, a symbol of freedom
and liberation, the cypress was used to present
sanctity (Koohzad, 2010).
The motif appears famously in the tiles at the Topkapi palace in Turkey (Pictured) and is otherwise a
common symbol in Iznik tiles.
Carpets
Among different plants, the cypress has received much
attention in Iranian carpets. "The cypress trees in their
abstract forms are sometimes presented as a simple triangle
attached to the stem, and sometimes they are in the form of
the candle flames with a flower in the middle. This image is
used either separately or in combination with a flower pot
and the birds are on the flower branches. Sometimes like
the carpets in the Fars region, the image is accompanied
with two birds on its sides (Azarpad & Heshmati, 2004, 123)
Image borrowed from
Google
Miniature Illumination/Painting
Not surprisingly, various species of trees and plants are often
observed in Iranian paintings.
In all periods, especially in the Ilkhani and Jalayerian periods, the
features of trees used to be defined in the proportion of animals
and rocks. Even in the various schools, the trees were used to
guide the eyes to move through the entire picture or to a
particular direction. The drawn trees were in harmony with
other parts of the image.
When miniature art was not recognized as an independent art, it
was at the service of poetry. It was used to portray the pictures
of poetry books.
The musician Barbad
conceals himself in a
tree
MSS 1030, folio 731
Tabriz, Iran.
For the Shahnamah of Shah
Tahmasp J.M. Rogers, The Arts of
Islam. Masterpieces from the Khalili
Collection, London 2010, cat.308
"Zal Consults the Magi",
Folio 73v from the
Shahnama (Book of Kings) of
Shah Tahmasp
ca. 1530–35
Metropolitan Museum
NewYork
Cypress in South Asia
A journey from Persia to Mughal India.
The Mughals looked to Persia as their role model
for culture, art, and craft, so with them, the tree
made its way into India.
In South Asia the cypress tree is commonly
referred to as ‘ Saru ‘. Its rooted in the Sanskrit
Word. Literally Saru means an arrow.

https://www.wisdomlib.org/definition/saru
The Mughals used floral imagery extensively in their
textiles, including the cypress.
Interestingly the French designer Brigitte Singh
discovered ancient records of these motifs in her
father-in-law’s archives.
Her use of the cypress is the most artistic and
aesthetic of the motif in the current design, in my
opinion. The motif appears regularly on apparel
and home, on many products designed in India.
Brigitte Singh,
Textile
The Tomb of Itimad ud Daula in Agra,
Uttar Pradesh, India.
The carved decoration in the Mandir
Palace at Jaisalmer in Rajasthan, India.
Carved in releif at the entrance of the Udai bilas palace. (Previous Slide)
Painted Murals in the Sultan Mahal in the Samode Palace , India.
Cypress Motifs on tile on a
tomb in Lahore, Pakistan.
Taj Mahal in Agra, India.
And
that’s
all,
Phew!

Folio from Shanameh


ShahTamasp, British
Library.
Literature review and references
1. “The motif of cypress river beloved one garden” in Ahmed Pasas poetry
2. The Tree Symbol in Islam by Noble Ross Reat
3. The tree of life design from Central Asia to Navajoland and back part 1 by
Sandra Busatta
4. Iranian traditional Motif: the boteh design by Najmeh Davari
5. Symbolism in Persian rugs by Reza T. Ahmadi
6. Journal of intercultural studies vol 26, threads of memory: reproducing
the cypress tree through sensual consumption by Megan Warin and
Simone Denmis
7. Pattrens and Ornaments in Arts of India by Henry Wilson
8. The study of Cypress appearance in the Persian art and architecture in
the light of Gestalt theory. International Journal of Architecture and
Urban Development Vol. 9, No.4. P 61-66. Autumn 2019.

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