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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