This carpet comes from the shrine of Sheikh Safi at Ardabil, the dynastic shrine of the Safavids. The shrine attracted gifts from royalty, including the most famous pair of carpets from the mid-sixteenth century, made for a prayer hall commissioned by Shah Tahmasp (r. 1524–76). With its pairs of lions attacking stags, tigers, hares, bears, foxes and wolves across a field of vines and blossoms, this carpet,would not have been used in spaces designated for prayer. Instead, it may have served as a floor covering in the refectory of dormitory.