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Lot Essay
The Koum Kapi weavings get their name from the Koum Kapi (Sand Gate) district of Istanbul, the Armenian quarter, situated near to the Top Kapi area of the city. It was in these rather impoverishing streets that the Armenian workshops created arguably the most luxurious and beautiful silk carpets of the 20th century, inspired by the renewed interest in and publication of great classical weavings (Pamela Bensoussan, 'The Master Weavers of Istanbul', Hali 26, p.34). The present lot is a rare large format Koum Kapi and although unsigned its quality is unmistakable. Far fewer large format Koum Kapi carpets were woven than the small format rugs, and it is likely that almost all of these would have been woven as special commissions. In recent years two related large format Koum Kapi carpets have sold in these Rooms, 24 April 2012, lot 50 and 23 April 2013, lot 25. However, in both cases the field design was directly copying that of a published 16th century Safavid carpet; the design of the present carpet is quite different and more playful.
The field design of our carpet uses motifs taken from the two magnificent mid-16th century Herat spiral vine carpets in the Österreichisches Museum für angewante Kunst in Vienna, inv. no. T8376/1922KB and Or311/1891/1907, which were published by Sarre and Trenkwald in Altorientalische Teppiche, Vienna and Leipzig, 1926, pl. 9 and 10, the same design as lot 27 in the present sale, but has been reconfigured in the hands of the Koum Kapi weaver to create an original overall design. The motifs have been repeated and mirrored in a manner very similar to the designs of late 19th and early 20th century carpets woven in India and the weavers of which were looking to the same publications for design sources as the Koum Kapi weavers. Another interesting difference between the two large format carpets and our carpet is the length of the silk pile. The silk pile of the present carpet is not as closely clipped as the other two carpets which creates a greater contrast between the silk and metal-thread raised work.
The field design of our carpet uses motifs taken from the two magnificent mid-16th century Herat spiral vine carpets in the Österreichisches Museum für angewante Kunst in Vienna, inv. no. T8376/1922KB and Or311/1891/1907, which were published by Sarre and Trenkwald in Altorientalische Teppiche, Vienna and Leipzig, 1926, pl. 9 and 10, the same design as lot 27 in the present sale, but has been reconfigured in the hands of the Koum Kapi weaver to create an original overall design. The motifs have been repeated and mirrored in a manner very similar to the designs of late 19th and early 20th century carpets woven in India and the weavers of which were looking to the same publications for design sources as the Koum Kapi weavers. Another interesting difference between the two large format carpets and our carpet is the length of the silk pile. The silk pile of the present carpet is not as closely clipped as the other two carpets which creates a greater contrast between the silk and metal-thread raised work.