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Lot Essay
The design of this rug closely relates to earlier 17th century 'Transylvanian' double-niche rugs. One such rug, published in Stefano Ionescu, Antique Ottoman Rugs in Transylvania, Rome, 2005, p.135, cat.132, displays a comparable, if more generously spaced, field design enclosed by two vases. The origin of the group remains under discussion, with some suggesting the double niche format followed Sultan Ahmed I’s prohibition of depictions of the mihrab in 1610, and others relating them to small medallion Ushak rugs of the sixteenth century such as lot 129 in this sale. A further theory links the double-niche format to yastiks produced in Ottoman court workshops (Stefano Ionescu, op. cit., p.60).
Marino Dall’Oglio notes that as the market for these rugs expanded, weaving ateliers in different centres of Anatolia such as Konya, Ladik and Bergama began producing these rugs and they therefore employ a variety of weaving techniques (Marino Dall'Oglio, "Transylvanian Rugs - Some Considerations and Opinions", HALI, vol.1, no.3, 1978, pp.274-275).
Marino Dall’Oglio notes that as the market for these rugs expanded, weaving ateliers in different centres of Anatolia such as Konya, Ladik and Bergama began producing these rugs and they therefore employ a variety of weaving techniques (Marino Dall'Oglio, "Transylvanian Rugs - Some Considerations and Opinions", HALI, vol.1, no.3, 1978, pp.274-275).