Page 147 - 2021 April 1, ART OF THE ISLAMIC AND Indian Worlds Including Oriental Rugs, Christie's London

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AN UNUSUALLY SMALL AND EXTREMELY FINE SILK AND weavers and the fine quality of their materials, mainly silk and metal-thread,
METAL-THREAD 'KOUM KAPI' RUG resulted in a long tradition of excellence (George Farrow with Leonard
SIGNED ZAREH PENYAMIN, ISTANBUL, CIRCA 1920 Harrow, Hagop Kapoudjian, London, 1993, p.11). The 16th century Safavid
Of 'Shah 'Abbas' design, the field signed three times within the gold metal- Persian carpets, manuscripts and mosque decorations that could be seen
thread, finely woven, localised repairs within the border in the treasuries and mosques of the old city served as design inspiration
2ft.9in. x 2ft. (89cm. x 63cm.) for both weavers (P. Bensoussan, op.cit, p.34). The design of counterposed
palmettes on the present rug is taken almost directly from Isfahan carpets of
£7,000-9,000 US$9,900-13,000
€8,100-10,000 the 16th century, examples of which would most certainly have been found in
the Imperial Treasury at the Topkapi Palace.
The knot count measures approximately 14V x 12H per cm. sq.
The present rug is signed with the typical angular kufic 'Zareh' at the base
of the larger palmette at one end of the field and in two further, smaller,
palmettes within the field along the central vertical axis. A rug of similarly
The 'Koum Kapi' group of silk rugs were woven in Istanbul by Armenian
small proportions, displaying an overall 'Shah Abbas' design by Zareh, sold in
weavers who settled in the area within the city walls of the same name,
these Rooms, 7 October 2014, lot 110.
which translates as 'Sand Gate'. Following the efforts of two Armenians, Zara
Agha and Apraham Agha at the very end of the 19th century, the first looms
of what was to become the 'Koum Kapi' school were set up in Istanbul. Today,
we consider the two great master weavers, who were near contemporaries,
to be Hagop Kapoudjian (d.1946) and Zareh Penyamin (1890-1949). Relatively
little is known about these men, originally from Kayseri, who later inspired
other weavers such as Toussounian. Zareh, originally a cartoonist for the
Ottoman court, was arguably the more accomplished weaver and went to
exceptional lengths to study not only the designs but also the techniques
of previous masters. He set himself apart from others with his exacting
standards and innovative techniques and apparently unravelled old pieces
in order to study their structure (P. Benoussan, 'The Master Weavers of
(detail of the signature of
Istanbul', HALI 26, April/May/June 1983, p.36). The technical ability of these
Zareh Penyamin )
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