Page 246 - ART OF THE ISLAMIC AND INDIAN WORLDS Carpets, Ceramics Objects, Christie's London Oct..27, 2022

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE CONNECTICUT COLLECTION
■*228
A 'STAR' USHAK CARPET
WEST ANATOLIA, SECOND HALF 16TH CENTURY
Light localised wear, negligible holes, very small repairs
and light corrosion, minor loss to each side and end,
one end outer guard stripe rewoven
15ft.9in. x 8ft.1in. (479cm. x 246cm.)
£80,000-120,000 US$92,000-140,000
€92,000-140,000

PROVENANCE:
Anon sale, (private French collection), Christie's
London, 24 April 1997, lot 409, from where purchased
by the present owner
This particularly fine example displays one of the most
iconic of all 'classical' carpet designs and it is not
hard to see why it has such enduring appeal. While
the 'star' Ushak is one of the best known icons, and
is to be found in a number of surviving examples,
it is not one of the most frequently encountered
examples in European paintings. There are however
some depictions which date back to the sixteenth
century, the earliest of which is the very well-known
Paris Bordone painting of 1530, The Doge's Ring in the
Accademia, Venice (G. Canova, Paris Bordon, Venice,
1963, pl.37 and dust jacket). While King Henry VIII of
England is shown in paintings on a number of Ushak
carpets, including a variant on the present design, he
is not shown with a 'Star' Ushak proper.
As with the large 'medallion' carpets, there are also a
number of variants on the design, of which the present
field design is the most common. The best and earliest
examples of the group have borders which often differ
from each other. The present carpet is no exception;
the exact border of outward facing palmettes linked by
an angular and serrated leaf vine is found on no other
carpets with this field. It is however to be found in a
carpet in the Detroit Institute of Arts (C.G.Ellis, Oriental
Carpets in the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia,
1988, pl.25b, p.74), a carpet which otherwise has a field
of quadrilateral medallions.
Within the group, the present carpet is one of the
best drawn and best preserved examples. The
drawing and proportions of the 'star' medallions of the
present carpet are very similar to those of that in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, formerly in the McMullan
Collection (J. V. McMullan, Islamic Carpets, New York,
1965, pl.67, pp.230-231). Like that example, there is
great variety and lack of symmetry in the drawing of
the motifs in the field and in the designs of the centers
of the star medallions. A comparable carpet to both
the present carpet and the McMullan example, but
which is missing its end borders, was formerly part of
the Christopher Alexander collection, (C. Alexander,
A Foreshadowing of 21st Century Art, the Color and
Geometry of Very Early Turkish Carpets, New York and
Oxford, 1993, pp. 71 (b/w detail) and 266-7) and which
first sold in these Rooms, 8 April, 1998 lot 103. The
present piece however has a lighter tone of red and
a general tonality which is not quite as intense as those.

244 In addition to the hammer price, a Buyer’s Premium (plus VAT) is payable. Other taxes and/or an Artist Resale Royalty 245
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.