Page 157 - ART OF THE ISLAMIC AND INDIAN WORLDS Carpets, Ceramics Objects, Christie's London Oct..27, 2022

*133
AN IMPRESSIVE VELVET PANEL
OTTOMAN TURKEY, 17TH CENTURY
Of near square form, the panel composed of two cushion covers (yastik), each
with a red velvet ground woven in silk with large cusped central medallions
containing cartouches and sprays of small blossoms, framed by leaf-motifs
above and below and within spandrels of blossoms, floral lappet border above
and below, very minor repairs, mounted, framed and glazed
Panel 55 x 49in. (139.7 x 124.5cm.); framed 581⁄5 x 54in. (148 x 137cm.)
£200,000-300,000 US$230,000-340,000
€230,000-340,000

PROVENANCE:
Baron Edmond de Rothschild (d.1934)
With Colnaghi, London, 1980, no.25
Anon Sale, Christie's, London, 27 April 2017, lot 140
EXHIBITED:
Colnaghi, London, 1980
LITERATURE:
Donald King, Imperial Ottoman Textiles, exhibition catalogue, Colnaghi,
London, 1980, pp.46-47, no.25

This sumptuous Ottoman velvet had been unseen on the market for almost These lappets can also help us date the textile. A yastik in the Bädisches
40 years. It was bought at Colnaghi, London in 1980 where it was presented Landesmuseum in Karlsruhe, though different in overall design, has a closely
as part of a group of Imperial Ottoman Textiles that was assembled in major comparable border to ours. That is known to have been inventoried there
part by Baron Edmond de Rothschild (d.1934) in the early part of the 20th as part of the Türkenbeute in 1691 giving it a terminus ante quem, and
century. Baron and Baroness Edmond de Rothschild collected in many areas, suggesting a similar date for ours (Nurhan Atasoy Walter B. Denny, Louise
a principle one of which was textiles. They looked for these as they travelled W. Mackie and Hülya Tezcan, Ipek. The Crescent and the Rose. Imperial
to Iran, Russia and Turkey, at a time where there was an expansion of interest Ottoman Velvets, London, 2001, p.251, no.68). Similar textiles can also be
in the Islamic world. found in contemporaneous miniatures. A painting from the Surnama of Vehbi
dated to circa 1720, depicts a procession of present bearers and soldiers (in
This panel is formed of two cushion covers, or yastik yüzü. In 17th century the Topkapi Saray Museum, inv.A.3595 fol.27a; Wearden, op.cit., p.6). In the
Bursa, home of the Ottoman silk industry, yastik were usually woven in pairs background of the painting are two canopies beneath which two cushions
or in fours. Rarely however, do they survive together as ours do. They would are propped up. Each has clear lappet borders and central medallions framed
decorate low benches – or sofa – that lined the walls of Ottoman interiors. by spandrels – very similar to those found on our yastiks.
The walls would themselves probably have been covered with brocade,
adding to the atmosphere. Ottaviano Bon, a Venetian living in Istanbul The overall decorative composition of our textile was one that became
between 1604 and 1607 wrote of the Sultan’s private rooms, ‘The floors… popular in the Ottoman period. Yastiks with the same decorative
with their sofas…are about half a cubit from the ground…all covered with the arrangement as ours are in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London,
richest Persian carpets…and the quilts for sitting on and the cushions to lean attributed to circa 1700-29 (inv.no.842-1852; http://collections.vam.ac.uk/
against were all of the finest brocades in gold and silk’ (quoted in Jennifer M. item/O319441/cushion-cover-unknown/#) and the State Historical Museum,
Wearden, Turkish Velvet Cushion Covers¸ London, 1986, p.1). This pair of fine Moscow – formerly in the P.I. Schoukine Collection (inv.no.GIM-19201;
Ottoman velvet yastik give an insight into the rich world of the Ottomans that Oriental and European Fabrics in the Collection of the State History Museum,
Bon would have encountered on his travels. Moscow, illustrated in the introduction). It is worth noting however, that
our velvet far surpasses these others in terms of finesse. This may suggest
It has been suggested that the ogival design seen here, was inspired that it is an earlier version of the production of a design that later gained in
through exposure to Egyptian Mamluk textiles (Yanni Petsopoulos (ed.), popularity. A velvet closer to ours than the V&A and Moscow examples in
Tulips, Arabesques and Turbans. Decorative Arts from the Ottoman Empire, terms of the sensitivity of the execution is in the Topkapi Palace Museum
London, 1982, p.128). The lappets that frame the covers at top and bottom, (inv.no.13/1441; Nurhan Atasoy et al, op.cit., 2001, pp.320-21, fig.362). Its
also possibly owe their origins to Mamluk design. An embroidered Mamluk presence there indicates that it was made for use at the Ottoman Court
cushion cover in the Ashmolean Museum shares a similar feature (inv. and by extension it is likely that our yastiks were too. This fine panel is a rare
no.1984.172). On our velvet, both the ogival centre and the lappets have survival of a court quality velvet, with outstanding provenance.
taken on a completely Ottoman life of their own – filled with an abundance
of elegant tulips, carnations and blossoms that embody the aesthetic of the
Ottoman workshop.

154 In addition to the hammer price, a Buyer’s Premium (plus VAT) is payable. Other taxes and/or an Artist Resale Royalty 155
fee are also payable if the lot has a tax or λ symbol. Check Section D of the Conditions of Sale at the back of this catalogue.