WEST ANATOLIA, FIRST HALF 17TH CENTURY

The rosette border seen on this rug is very rare. It is found on a rug whose field is the same as that of lot 79 in the Bruckenthal Museum, Sibiu (Csányi, Károly et al.: Erdélyi Török Szónyegek, (in Hungarian), exhibition catalogue, Budapest, 1914, no.168; Kertesz-Badrus, Andrei: Trkische Teppiche in Siebenbrgen, Bucharest, 1985, no.17). It is a border which was adapted and adopted by a group of coupled column prayer rugs, an early variant of which is in the Museum of Applied Arts, Budapest (Végh, Gyula and Layer, Károly: Turkish Rugs in Transylvania, Fishguard, 1977, no.28).

This rug has at one stage been cut into four equal pieces. This has happened to a number of rugs in this region and is thought to have been the result of splitting the property of a deceased man between his family, each getting an equal share.