BURSA OR ISTANBUL, TURKEY, LATE 16TH OR FIRST HALF 17TH CENTURY

There are a number of variants of this design which were woven at the Ottoman Court velvet workshops. While the arrangement remains similar, with diagonal rows of carnations spreading over into the border, there are a number of small details which differ. The number of petals varies, as does the base of the flowerhead, and the leaves that spread either side. Lastly the minor motif, here a single multilayered flower, varies. A similar velvet panel was sold in these Rooms, 8 April 2008, lot 164. A further example in the Fitzwilliam Museum (inv. T54-1949) has a very similar minor motif (N. Atasoy, W. B. Denny, L. W. Mackie, H. Tezcan, IPEK, The Crescent & the Rose, Imperial Ottoman Silks and Velvets, London, 2001, pl. 103, p. 102).