Dazgir Rug
West Anatolia, late 18th / early 19th century
145 x 130 cm (4' 9" x 4' 3")
Condition: very good, original kilim ends, some small old repairs, selvedges partially rebound
Warp: two colored wool, weft: wool, pile: wool

Until quite recently, rugs such as this late 18th- to early 19th century west Anatolian medallion rug, with their distinctive rosette borders and flowerheads surrounding the nested quatrefoil central medallion, were conventionally attributed to the Bergama region.
However, according to the American collector Brian Morehouse (HALI 121, 2002, p. 101-07), weavings of this type should be classified as products of the Menderes River valley in southwestern Anatolia which includes the towns of Kiraz, Cal, Denizli and Dazgir.
The design derives from one of the principal 17th/18th century 'Transylvanian' rug designs which, in the 19th century and perhaps in the 18th, was used to decorate rugs of different formats, such as a runner illustrated by Werner Brüggemann and Harald Böhmer in "Rugs of the Peasants and Nomads of Anatolia, 1991" (pl. 65).
The present lot was advertised by Ronnie Newman in HALI 48 (1989, p. 9) and sold at Rippon Boswell in 1994 (HALI 79, p. 143). It is quite similar to two dated rugs. The first of these, sold at Sotheby's in London in April 1997 (HALI 93, p. 125), was dated 1188 (1774 CE), and the second, which appeared at Rippon Boswell in November 2006, was dated 1263 (1847 CE).