Christie's (London)
Rugs and Carpets -- Battilossi Tappeti d'Antiquariato
Wednesday, 11 February, 1998
Lot 90
A STAR USHAK CARPET
WEST ANATOLIA, LATE 16TH CENTURY
The tomato-red field with polychrome angular flowering vine around
diagonally spaced indigo star medallions containing pale sandy yellow
interlaced arabesques, these medallions linked by similar smaller lozenge
medallions, in a light blue border of angular palmette vine with inner sandy
yellow spiralling ribbon stripe, ends missing, side stripes reduced,
scattered small old repairs, light overall wear
8ft.x6ft. (244cm.x 183cm.)
LITERATURE:
Suriano, Carlo Maria: `Pattems of Patronage: Classical Carpets in the
Bargello Museum. Florence'. HALI 83. October/November 1995, pl.5, p .83.
As observed in the notes to the two other `star' Ushak carpets recently sold
in these Rooms (24 April 1997, lot 409; and 16 October 1997, lot 23), the
beauty about the earlier versions of these carpets is that the weavers
played slightly with the design each time. The present example is, unusual,
although not unique, in its blue border. The design of the border is
identical to that executed on the red ground in the second of the two
carpets mentioned above, only here it is drawn with the palmettes facing out
from the rug. The present carpet, while unfortunately lacking both ends, has
a brilliance of colour rarely found in carpets of this group, comparable
indeed in this respect to the wonderful McMullan example (McMullan, J. V.:
Islamic Carpets, New York, 1965, pl.67, pp .230 -l).
Est.: £30,000-40,000, US$50,000-66,000
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