Page 249 - ART OF THE ISLAMIC AND INDIAN WORLDS Carpets, Ceramics Objects, Christie's London Oct..27, 2022

VARIOUS PROPERTIES
■*229
A ‘TRANSYLVANIAN’ PRAYER RUG
WESTERN ANATOLIA, LATE 17TH CENTURY
Even overall wear, scattered spots of repair and repiling, outer minor stripes
partially rewoven, ends rewoven
5ft.5in. x 4ft.1in. (166cm. x 125cm.)
£12,000-16,000 US$14,000-18,000
€14,000-18,000
■*231
PROVENANCE:
With Davide Halevim, 1982 A KONYA RUG
CENTRAL ANATOLIA, 18TH CENTURY
LITERATURE:
HALI, Issue 5, no 2, p.3 Stabilised areas of loss and damage, sides and
ends secured, backed
7ft.7in. x 3ft.10in. (230cm. x 118cm.)
Unlike other Anatolian rugs of this period, the present lot is one of a group that
abandoned the predominant geometry and angularity of design and employed £12,000-16,000 US$15,000-19,000
a subtle palette with elegant, delicate drawing. This West Anatolian village €14,000-18,000
workshop prayer rug is directly influenced by the magnificent Ottoman carpets
This rug uses the large flowerhead and paired
produced in the court ateliers of Sulayman the Magnificent in 16th century
leaf motif which is frequently encountered in the
Turkey, (Joseph V. McMullan, Islamic Carpets, New York, 1965, p.32-3, no.4.)
borders of many 17th-18th century Ghiordes and
‘Transylvanian' prayer rugs, but also appears in
The present lot is unusual for this particular group of 'Transylvanian'
18th-19th century central Anatolian and Melas
prayer rugs, of which there are eleven recorded examples, whose principle
rugs. This motif is used not only in the border
characteristics are defined by a plain field, ivory spandrels with flowering
but throughout the field. A comparable example
stems and a palmette, lobed blossom and serrated leaf-filled border. The
was sold in the Christopher Alexander Collection,
hexagonal cartouche border of the present rug is one that is more commonly
Christie's London, 15 October 1998, lot 210 (C.
associated with the column prayer rugs, an example of which is in the Black
Alexander, A Foreshadowing of 21st Century Art,
Church in Braşov, see 'Transylvanian Turkish Rugs', Museum of Applied Arts,
the Color and Geometry of Very Early Turkish
Budapest, 2020, pp.228-229, no.206. A "Transylvanian" prayer rug with the
Carpets, New York and Oxford, 1993, pp.328-331).
same hexagonal cartouche border and diagonally-striped guard stripes as the
Another long rug with the same combination was
present rug but with a plain sandy-yellow field, is in the Hungarian Lutheran
229 published by the late Magda Shapira (Anatolian
Church in Braşov, (Stefano Ionoescu, Antique Ottoman Rugs in Transylvania,
Carpets from the Magda Shapira Collection,
Rome, 2005, cat. no,168). Both that rug and the present lot display a small
exhibition catalogue, London, 1976, no.10). A rug
hanging floral pendant in the apex of the arch which recall the hanging mosque
with the same field is in a private Italian collection
lamps used within the churches. Most examples from this group display the
(John Eskenazi, Il Tappeto Orientale, Torino, 1996,
more common pale fields, and not the present madder-red field, comparable
no.42, p.142). The same field motif appears on a
to The Rothschild-Carlowitz prayer rug, of leaf and blossom border, see HALI,
rug which is amusingly prominent in a painting
Issue 39, p.43 and George Butterweck, et. al., Antike Anatolische Teppich,
by Osman Hamdi Bey of The Carpet Merchant,
Vienna, 1983, pl.9, pp.68-69.
painted in 1888, now in the Berlin Museum (N.
Ölçer, (intro), Turkish Carpets from the 13th-18th
■*230 centuries, Istanbul, 1996, frontispiece to plates).
A LADIK PRAYER RUG Both Mrs Shapira and Professor Alexander refer
CENTRAL ANATOLIA, SECOND HALF 18TH CENTURY to another example published by Reinhard Hubel
Even overall wear, scattered minor restorations and repiling, ends rewoven (The Book of Carpets, London, 1971, pl.20) where
6ft.2in. x 3ft.10in. (189cm. x 117cm.) Hubel notes that this design in Turkey is called
kafala (head-pattern) and compares it to“ large
£5,000-7,000 US$5,900-8,200
€5,800-8,100 birds in flight", while recognising its floral origin.
This substantiates Alexander's assertion that the
The alternating tulip and palmette border pattern of our prayer rug is typical flowerhead and paired leaf motif is itself only an
of Ladik weaving. It is common for the spandrels to be decorated with the avatar of the much older and very symbolic ram's-
serrated leaf and carnation design, also common in ‘Transylvanian’ rugs, but horn motif which can be traced further into the
the placing of a small red samovar on either side of the stepped, hooked gable prehistoric period.
is a charming addition. A Ladik prayer rug of similar colouring with a tulip
panel beneath the plain red niche, and which shows greater evidence of wear,
was formerly in the collection of the late Hans Purrman, (1880–1966) one of
the leading German artists in the first half of the 20th century (http://www.
azerbaijanrugs.com/anatolian/ladik/). It is of note that the Compartment
fragment, lot 227 in the present sale, was also formerly in the collection
Hans Purrman, who evidently had an understanding of and passion for, early
Classical carpets. Another example, which displays a tulip panel above the
light blue mihrab, formerly in the collection of Paul Deeg, sold in these Rooms,
28 October 2021, lot 140. A comparable rug but with a much steeper stepped
prayer arch than the moderate gable in the present rug, sold in these Rooms,
27 April 2017, lot 204.
230 In addition to the hammer price, a Buyer’s Premium (plus VAT) is payable. Other taxes and/or an Artist Resale Royalty 247
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.