Investigation and Identification of Kailin Motif in Safavid Carpets

Animal motifs are one of the most important and influential motifs that can be seen in the Iranian carpet from long ago. These motifs incorporate ancient religious and mythological concepts, expressing the geographical and natural position, place of human life and its aspirations and aspirations. Kailin is also one of the animal motifs. Although we do not have it in nature, because of its immense use in the Safavid art, it is of great importance in various areas of art, including Iran, China and East Asia. Across East Asia, Kailin is one of four noble animals that comes with dragons, phoenix and turtles and is made up of dragon’s head, deer or cattle’s body and lion’s tail. The numerous applications of this motif in Safavid carpets have prompted the writers not only to introduce the role of Kailin and its implications but also to answer the question of what is the role of this motif in the carpets of this period and what types and classifications can be offered. So understanding the meaning of this motif and how it is drawn can help us to understand the cause of its use.Using a descriptive and analytical approach and gathering the theoretical foundations from the documentary research, this paper concluded that Kailin is a symbol of the good and that it has been used extensively with itself or other animals and sometimes alone. It is also the most used motif in the carpet text of this period.