A CAIRENE CARPET

PROBABLY CAIRO, OTTOMAN EGYPT, MID-16TH CENTURY

Details

The red field woven with blue palmettes and reserves of scrolling leaves within a border woven with palmettes containing saz leaves
Approximately 17 ft. 4 in. (5 m. 28 cm.) x 15 ft. 2 in. (4 m. 62 cm.)
Provenance

The V. and L. Benguiat Private Collection of Rare Old Rugs; American Art Association, Inc, New York, 4-5 December 1925, lot 36.
The Estate of Countess Mona Bismarck; Sotheby's, Monaco, 30 November-2 December 1986, lot 1801.
The Textile Gallery, London.
Private Collection, London.


Lot Essay

In the years following the annex of Egypt into the Ottoman Empire in 1517, carpet production from the region underwent a clear design shift. Weavers from the Ottoman court nakkashhane (atelier) brought with them new patterns including spring flowers, palmettes and leafy floral vinery in all over and medallion compositions, replacing the geometric formalism of Mamluk carpets previously in production in Cairo. An exemplar of the Ottoman preference for decorative organic forms is the exquisite mid-16th century prayer rug in the Metropolitan Museum of Applied of Applied Arts, Vienna (Angela Völker, Die orientalischen Knüpfteppiche im MAK, Vienna, 2001, no.6, p.55). This inevitably expanded the Mamluk palette of just three or five colors and marked a departure from the earlier geometric drawing to the increasingly organic forms now synonymous with Cairene production. A group of carpets which mark the transitional period between these two phases of carpet weaving display a floral lattice field design but were executed with a Mamluk palette and regularity of drawing; an example with a faint central medallion is in the Textile Museum, Washington D.C. (Ernst Kühnel, Cairene Rugs and Others Technically Related, Washington D.C., 1957, pl.XXII) and one without a medallion is in the Lenbachhaus, Munich.
The present carpet is related to Cairene weavings displaying a repeat field design with a superimposed central medallion and four quarter medallions in each corner, often supplemented with saz leaves, which here are present in the palmettes of the border. Similarly to this lot, the medallions were often woven in dark indigoes, while the field color is most often madder red. However, the large lobed reserves and lobed half and quarter medallions in its field distinguish this lot from comparable Cairene works. A closely related carpet from this sub-group with similar corner medallions, anchors and lobed preserves is in the collection of the Musée du Louvre (AD 10553; UCAD 10553).