The Iconography of “Lady Sun (Khorshid Khanum)” Motif in Iranian Embroideries and its Relationship with the Evil Eye

Problem statement:

 Embroidery with different applications has been common since ancient Iran in decorating fabrics with a wide variety of patterns, colors, and types of sewing according to their production area. The embroideries with the motif of “Lady Sun” (Khorshid Khanum in Persian) are used in some Iran areas to avoid the Evil eye, such as Sahebqaraniyeh Palace’s Embroideries.

There are some questions about the reasons why the “Lady Sun” motif has been used in Iranian embroideries, such as why do the sun illustrations have female faces? What are the cultural and functional meanings of this motif in these embroideries, and what is the relationship between this motif and the Evil eye? An iconographic approach was used to answer those questions.The purpose is to identify the iconography of “Lady Sun” motives in embroideries of the Sahebqaraniyeh treasure and its relationship with the Evil eye both descriptively and analytically.

This research is qualitative and descriptive-analytical, and the data was collected in the field and library based on the iconographic approach of the Ervin Panofsky school.

In ancient culture, the sun was closely associated with the eye and the Evil eye. A woman’s face in the sun can be considered a symbol of Anahita and the sun as a symbol of Myhr, who both were protectors against the devil. The sun resembles the eye of the sky and is both destructive and protective. In many cases, the sun is described with a female face in literature. In the folklore of some regions of Iran, a beautiful female face was painted on a Sabu (pottery jar), called “Cheshmaro”, to avoid the Evil eye. In some other parts, it is called “Chesh Cheshi” or “Cheshouk” and is used to stay away from the Evil eye, which can be considered the use of Sahebqaraniyeh samples for this purpose.