Sotheby's Fine Rugs & Carpets including Islamic Textiles
London | 15 Oct 2003, 02:00 PM | L03761

LOT 52
A BERGAMA CARPET, WEST ANATOLIA
283 by 145cm., 9ft. 4in. by 4ft. 9in.
circa 1800

ESTIMATE 4,000-6,000 GBP
Lot Sold: 4,200 GBP

CATALOGUE NOTE
The geometry of Bergama rugs, as Serare Yetkin remarks, is clearly derived from the Seljuk artistic tradition, see
Yetkin, S, Historical Turkish Carpets, Istanbul, 1981. For a Seljuk carpet fragment with a border that is a clear
precursor to that of the present lot see Yetkin, S, op.cit. pl.9. The border of the Seljuk carpet fragment, consisting of a
star-shaped motif, issuing two separate branches of double-leaf sprays, was taken on by subsequent Turkish carpet
weaving and is clearly evident in rugs with the so-called 'ragged palmette' border. For a discussion of this type of
border see Mills, J., 'Carpets in Paintings: The 'Bellini', 'Keyhole' or 'Re-entrant' Rugs', p.95-98. For example, John
Mills illustrates a painting of Lady Jane Grey, attributed to Master John, circa 1545, which shows a detail of the
'ragged palmette' border but here it has evolved and the two separate leafy branches have become four branches
issuing 'W' forms. These 'W' forms can also be seen in the present lot as branching out from the stellar, and
sometimes octagonal, flowerheads of the border. The field design also derives from earlier Turkish carpets such as
the Sion Symmetrical Re-entrant Rug, see Dall'Oglio, M. & Dall'Oglio, C., 'A Discovery at Sion', Hali, Issue 27, pp.36-
39) although in the present lot the central Memling-gul in a lozenge reserve is framed by confronting triangular hooked
ornaments. Furthermore, the re-entrant reserves found at both ends of the Sion rug have been replaced in the present
lot by completely separate octagons centred by crosses.
For related examples at auction, see Christie's London, 11th February 1998, lot 111; Sotheby's London, 15th October
1997, lot 55 and Sotheby's New York, 12th December 1979, lot 263.