TURKISH RUGS

The following images show pile rugs from various weaving districts in Anatolia. For further information, contact Dennis Dodds, dennisdodds@juno.com.

This small rug displays many design features of the Ottoman vocabulary that are seen in so-called Transylvanian carpets from southwestern Anatolia. The fine weave and 'lazy lines' created by discontinuous wefts can also found in carpets made in the western region of Anatolia, such as Ushak, Kula and Gordes. Wefts in the area of the white mihrab prayer arch are undyed white wool, while in the other parts of the rug the wefts are dyed red. By using white wefts in the white arch area, any wear that would occur over many generations of use would not expose a red foundation, which would spoil the contemplative purpose of a prayer rug. The dyes, wool quality, scale of the elements, and fine weave with slight tension on the knot that displaces/depresses alternating warps about 15%, point to a possible Ushak provenance and an earlier period than most of the Gordes prayer rugs that were popular in the later 18th and 19th century.

A singe cypress tree stands beneath a well-drawn medallion with complex center of four blossoms. The pattern is found in silk embroidered Caucasian textiles of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Large workshop carpets were woven during the same period in the Caucasus. One such carpet of the 'Transitional type' is in the Turk ve Islam Eserleri Muzesi, Istanbul and is dated 1156 (H.), or 1734 (A.D.). It was discovered in the Korkmazoglu Mosque in Sivas in eastern Anatolia. See Yetkin, Serare, Early Caucasian Carpets in Turkey, plate 24.

The majestic open field of rose madder centers a solitary small-pattern Holbein type l medallion. The outline of this motif is also seen on a carpet fragment discovered in the Eshrefoglu Mosque in Beyshehir that dates to the 15th century. See Erdmann, K., The History of the Early Turkish Carpet, p. 70, plate 70. Blue-green spandrels carry stylized geometric motifs and a vigorous and bold angular vine of the 'Turkmen Line' type appears in the wide, pale yellow border. This open, spacious layout represents a village version of a 16th century style. A similar example is in the Turk ve Islam Museum in Istanbul.

Two large octagons with radiating bars are arranged vertically in the Holbein III format. This ornament is found in Mamluk carpets of the 15th century and was popular in weavings of western Anatolia into the late 19th century. The 'wheel' motif can be seen in paintings by Carlo Crivelli. Hooked figures inside the arms may refer to animal origins, as the earliest woven examples of this group exhibit 'dragon-like' forms. In this rug, some of these motifs are 'open' and could be considered a continuation of the animal-style legacy. Later expressions render these motifs as simple small medallions or rosettes. Inside each octagon is a well-executed complex octagonal interlace of the Holbein type I configuration. There is a Roman period mosaic pavement in the floor of the Church of the Armageddon in Israel that dates to the 1st century A.D. The design in that pavement consists of two identical 'wheel' medallions. In place of the dragon forms seen in this and earlier Anatolian variants, the Roman period mosaic motifs depict early Christian images, including fishes.

A classic 2-1-2 layout of the Large-Pattern Holbein type IV variant dominates the strong red field of this small format rug that is punctuated with sparkling colors of yellow, pale blue and green. A pale aubergine purple elegantly complements the palette. Ornamentation around the perimeter of the central octagonal medallion indicate an earlier style. In later renditions of this Holbein group, stiff, angular latch-hooks often replaced the more gracefully curved voluted extensions. The weave, with its dense, compact, shiny wool, and red wefting, together with the rosette border elements, recall two early fragments in The Turk ve Islam Museum in Istanbul, each dated to the 17th-18th century. The rug's size, 3.6x4.2 feet, suggests that it was possibly exported to Europe where aristocrats and wealthy merchants used them as table covers as early as the 15th century. The rug was formerly in the possession of Perez in London, long known for handling great carpets from the Classical peiod.