A rare Oushak Gallery carpet
Western Turkey, c1870
14ft x 6ft : 425cm x 187cm
The town of Oushak, in Western Turkey, at the end of the nineteenth century, became the centre for carpet production for the new western markets of Europe and American. Many foreign companies had their offices there to supervise the production, the workshops were mainly run by Greek and Armenian merchants.
The present carpet is exceptionally rare as to the design and format combination. The carpet was made in the Victorian period and as such is a hybrid of different styles and ages. The design is influenced from the classical period of Ottoman Oushak carpets made for the royal court in the 16th century, though there are also Gothic Revival influences to be seen. The importation of these style of carpets were influential to the designs of William Morris and other Arts and Crafts artists, as the flat two dimensional perspective was in keeping with their Pre-Raphaelite principals and can be considered the beginning of the modern period.
What is also of note is the Modernist tendencies in the design, the medallion is just a skeletal outline drawing, freeing the carpet from the usual block colour medallions frequently encountered. The border, normally blue, is of the same colour as the field which creates a harmonious balance, almost as if a blue stencil design has been dropped onto a plain red ground, minimal in concept, simple but aesthetically effective.
The gallery format adds to heighten the fantasy of the design by elongating the whole and creates a truly unique carpet and the only one we have encountered. Also of note is that the carpet retains original colour and good condition.
Price : £ 35,000
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This is one example from our extensive collection of rare carpets and tapestries
