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Lot Essay
The design of Medallion Ushak carpets is one that has become very familiar and synonymous with the richly coloured weavings produced in Ottoman Turkey for the wealthy from early on in the 16th century. Designed with two primary ornaments which alternate diagonally in an endless repeat pattern cut by the border. Almost all examples fall into one of two colour schemes: those with a blue ground with the primary medallion in red, yellow or ivory and the secondary medallion in pale blues or those with a red ground with blue primary medallions and green, brown or blue secondary medallions of which the present carpet belongs. On all Medallion Ushaks the background is filled with a design of split-leaf rumi and angular floral vinery depicted in a single colour, without outlines. On the present carpet this pattern is woven in an azure blue which enlivens the rich red field.
The source of the design has been the subject of great debate, but one suggestion is that it originated as a response to stylistic developments in illuminated manuscripts during the rule of Mehmet II Fatih (1432-1481); for a full discussion of the design see Jon Thompson, Milestones in the History of Carpets, Milan, 2006, pp.90-101. The earliest and best examples of these carpets were woven for the wealthy Ottoman home market, however they already appeared in European paintings during the 16th century with examples being depicted by artists such as Velasquez, Zurbaran and Vermeer (Donald King and David Sylvester, The Eastern Carpet in the Western World from the 15th to the 17th Century, London, 1983, p.73). By the 17th century there is evidence of a substantial export market to Europe where they continued to be popular for decades if not centuries. A similar example was sold recently at Austrian Auctions, Vienna, 29 May 2000, lot 29 and another, formerly in a private Italian collection purchased from Elio Cittone in Turin, sold in these Rooms 18 October 2016, lot 47.
The source of the design has been the subject of great debate, but one suggestion is that it originated as a response to stylistic developments in illuminated manuscripts during the rule of Mehmet II Fatih (1432-1481); for a full discussion of the design see Jon Thompson, Milestones in the History of Carpets, Milan, 2006, pp.90-101. The earliest and best examples of these carpets were woven for the wealthy Ottoman home market, however they already appeared in European paintings during the 16th century with examples being depicted by artists such as Velasquez, Zurbaran and Vermeer (Donald King and David Sylvester, The Eastern Carpet in the Western World from the 15th to the 17th Century, London, 1983, p.73). By the 17th century there is evidence of a substantial export market to Europe where they continued to be popular for decades if not centuries. A similar example was sold recently at Austrian Auctions, Vienna, 29 May 2000, lot 29 and another, formerly in a private Italian collection purchased from Elio Cittone in Turin, sold in these Rooms 18 October 2016, lot 47.