Medallion Ushak carpet fragment, Anatolia, late 15th century. published MILESTONES IN THE HISTORY OF CARPETS by JON THOMPSON. Moshe Tabibnia Collection, Milan 2006

2.33 x 2.23m (7'8" x 7'4")

According to Julian Raby these unprecedentedly large and curvilinear carpets were first produced in the Ottoman court workshop of Mehmed II (r.1451–80). Noting their modest width,
comparing in great detail a series of splayed or inward-curling ‘oak’ – actually lotus – leaves represented on the carpets and in other media, and summarily pronouncing the Ushak
floral tracery “inept and unconvincing” (an observation belied by this splendid fragment), he concludes that Ushaks were never Ottoman court rugs but rather were part of a “blossoming
experimental activity in the commercial looms of Ushak in the late fifteenth century,” informed by “influences from Central Asia via Iran...” Not considered here is the identity of
the clientele for these revolutionary carpets – who, if not the Ottoman court itself, might have fostered their new style and commissioned so many of them, since Europeans apparently
didn’t import them until the mid-16th century.