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Fine Oriental and European Carpets
Sale: NY7117 | Location: New York
Auction Dates: Session 1: Wed, 15 Apr 98 10:15 AM
LOT 131
A Central Anatolian rug
50,000—70,000 USD
DESCRIPTION
A Central Anatolian rug
circa 1600
partially rewoven sides, oxidized browns,
scattered rewoven areas, approximately 5 ft. 9
in. by 4 ft. 8 in. (1.75 by 1.42m.) Warp: wool,
Z2S, ivory Weft: wool, Z, light red, 2-3 shoots
Pile: wool, symmetric knot Density: 8H, 11V
Sides: not original Ends: upper: remnants of
original red kilim Colors: madder red, blue, dark
blue, blue-green, aubergine, yellow, light
madder, ivory, walnut Literature: Herrmann,
Eberhart, Seltene Orientteppiche V, Munich 1983,
pl. 10, pp. 26-27 The small rug offered here
initially catches our eye with the four curling
"leaves" that issue from its medallion.
These motifs are unusual and do not seem to
feature in other early Turkish rugs. These
"leaves" recur in some Turkmen carpets,
for example in the so-called curling leaf border
of weavings such as the Tekke bird asmalyk on the
cover of Herrmann, E., Von Lotto bis Tekke,
Munich 1978. The present rug shares a design of
medallion, spandrels and lampet end borders with
several other early Turkish weavings; see
Kirchheim, H., et al., pl. 176, a Konya region
medallion carpet fragment, ascribed 17th century
or earlier; Balpinar and Hirsch, pl. 16, a
Western Anatolian rug, dated 16th-17th century;
an animal-figured carpet, Aslanapa, pl. 39,
attributed to 15th century; a Karapinar rug,
Alexander, pp. 230-231; and a Bergama, ibid., pp.
326-327. All of these rugs, and the offered rug,
are woven with a variety of intense and vivid
colors, a hallmark of Central Anatolian weaving.
As the author notes regarding the Konya rug, pl.
176 in Kirchheim, the design is a village
adaptation of a classical format. The prototypes
would have been carpets such as Yetkin, op. cit.,
pl. 54, woven in a workshop in Oushak. Classical
workshop carpets such as this featured a
symmetrical design of medallion and spandrels
with very intricate internal decorative
intertwining vinery. As in the offered rug,
village weavers pared the design down to bolder,
more stylized elements heightened by the use of a
wider range of hues. In the current rug, and
other village examples cited, the medallion rests
on a field sparsely decorated with a few stars
and rosettes. This stylization of design allows
each element space, and thus the rug makes a
powerful visual statement. Here, as they are not
outlined, the curling leaves appear to float on
the red field. This is also the case for the
blue-green that outlines the medallion. This
practice of not outlining is shared with other
Central Anatolian rugs, particularly from
Karapinar, see lot 103 5/8 in this
catalogue for one example. Upon closer
examination, we notice that the weaver has subtly
employed green leaves when the nearest spandrel
is blue, and vice-versa. This demonstrates a
sophisticated sense of design and color that is
shared with the best of Turkish village weavings.
References: Alexander, Christopher, A
Foreshadowing of 21st Century Art, New York and
Oxford, 1993 Aslanapa, Oktay, One Thousand Years
of Turkish Carpets, Istanbul, 1988 Balpinar,
Belkis and Hirsch, Udo, Carpets of the Vakiflar
Museum Istanbul, Wesel, 1988 Kirchheim, Heinrich,
et al., Orient Stars, Stuttgart and London, 1993
Yetkin, Serare, Historical Turkish Carpets,
Istanbul, 1981 |
