Oushak Rugs:  A late 17th C. West Anatolian Coupled-Column Prayer Rug Probably Oushak Sotheby's

Sotheby's Auctions » Carpets » lot 332

Sale N07820
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION
A WEST ANATOLIAN COUPLED-COLUMN PRAYER RUG, PROBABLY OUSHAK,
New York 30,000—40,000 USD Session 1
01 Oct 02 2:00 PM


Lot Sold. Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium: 32,862 USD
MEASUREMENTS
approximately 6ft. 2in. by 5ft. 2in. (1.88 by 1.57m.)

DESCRIPTION

• late 17th century partially oxidized browns, minor areas of repiling,

• Warp: Wool, Z2S, ivory, some ivory/light brown mix

• Weft: Wool, Z1, 3-6 shoots, red

• Pile: Wool, symmetrical knot Silk, some ivory, blue and pale yellow knots Density: 8-9 horizontal, 10-11 vertical

• Sides: Wool, 4 cords of 2 warps each, overcast in blue and smaller bands of red and brown with some red warp threads showing

• Ends: Upper - N in. red kilim, then D in. blue kilim followed by warp fringe

• Lower - D in. blue kilim, warp fringe

• Colors: Medium to deep paprika, lapis, medium to deep teal blue, birch, medium to deep seal brown, caramel, aubergine, pewter brown

Provenance The Collection of Susan and Lewis Manilow: Sotheby's New York, April 7th 1992, lot 10. The coupled-column prayer rug featured here is one of the rare group which share a similar design of three elongated niches supported by coupled-columns with curling leaf-filled arches surmounted by a "tulip"-filled reserve. The majority of the group also shares the strong red field and floral-filled rounded cartouche border as seen in the present rug, see: Prayer Rugs, Textile Museum, Washington, D. C., 1974, pp. 54-55, plate XII for an example from the G. H. Myers collection and Bailey, Julia, "Ladik Prayer Rugs", Hali Issue 28, 1985, p. 22, fig. 6 for an example from the Wher Collection. The coupled-column prayer rug group represents provincial Anatolian interpretations of 16th and 17th century Ottoman Court prayer rugs with triple-niche and coupled-column designs, such as the renowned Ballard prayer rug now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (see Dimand, M. S., and Mailey, Jean, Oriental Rugs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1973, p. 158, fig. 188.) Although previously thought to be of Ladik production, May Beattie, in her 1968 article "Coupled-Column Prayer Rugs," Oriental Art, Vol. XIV, no. 4, pp. 243-258, convincingly identifies separate sources of origin for the coupled-column group and the Ladik rugs because of different structural characteristics. It is generally now agreed that the coupled-column group are products of Western Anatolian looms, most likely those of Oushak. The coupled-column group is dated to at least the early 17th century by their appearance in European paintings, with an example depicted in a 1664 still-life by the Dutch artist Nicolaas van Gelder (see Bailey, op. cit., pp. 24-25, fig. 8). Although the present rug shares the basic design scheme and coloration of most rugs in the coupled-column group, it has several salient design features which distinguish it from the other examples. In most of these rugs the three field niches terminate in a single point and are of nearly equal proportion, with the central niche being slightly taller. Here the central niche is significantly larger than the two side niches. The side niches are extremely unusual in that they terminate in three points. There are seemingly only two other published examples with three-pointed side niches; one in the Bardini Museum, Florence (see Boralevi, Alberto, Oriental Geometries, Stefano Bardini and the Antique Carpet, Livorno, 1999, pl. 25, and the other in the Museum for Applied Arts, Budapest (see Batari, Ferenc, "Turkish Rugs in Hungary," Hali, Vol. 3, no. 2, 1980, pp. 88, fig. 9). The present rug and the Bardini rug, however, are the most similar in overall design composition even though the Bardini rug has a yellow ground. They share very similar major border systems and similar drawing and motifs in the arch and frieze decoration. Alberto Boralevi suggests that the three pointed side niches indicate that these rugs are perhaps the earliest of the coupled-column group and may "represent a transition between the curvilinear, naturalistic style of the Ottoman rugs and the more geometric pattern of the later Anatolian pieces" (see Boralevi, A., "Turkish Rugs in the Bardini Museum", Hali, Vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 6-7). Another extremely unusual and perhaps unique design feature of the rug offered here is the pointed niche which is superimposed on the "tulip" frieze and upper border. There are no apparent design precedents or correlations for this motif in either the earlier Ottoman Court prayer rugs or in other rugs of the Anatolian coupled-column group. However, this niche may represent a provincial rendering of the four "heavenly pavilions" found in the corresponding frieze of the Ballard Ottoman Court rug (see Atil, Esin, The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, Washington and New York, 1987, p. 227) or more likely a provincial rendering of the four pavilions surmounted by a dome design seen in an Ottoman Cairene Court rug in a private collection (see Boralevi, Alberto, "Three Egyptian Carpets in Italy," Oriental Carpets and Textile Studies II, London, 1986, p. 215. fig. 11).

Seen on: www.Sothebys.com

For Further Reading:

Guide To Turkish Prayer Rugs

Thanks and best wishes,

J. Barry O'Connell Jr.

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