SIGNED HAGOP KAPOUDJIAN, ISTANBUL, TURKEY, CIRCA 1900

The knot count measures approximately 8V x 7H knots per cm. sq.

The Sultan's head design is one of the most iconic designs associated with the Koum Kapi weavers. The design finds its origins with the so-called Topkapi rugs. The largest known group of these are in the Topkapi Museum, though in the early 20th century the most well-published example was actually the one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc.no.17.120.124), which had been published and illustrated in the early 20th century by Sarre and Trenkwald, Orientalische Teppiche, Vienna, 1926, pl.51. The design was adopted by a number of the Koum Kapi weavers, who all put their own interpretation on it. Probably most associated with it is Zareh Penyamin, and an example of one of his Sultan's Head rugs can be seen in the present sale, lot 212.

More unusually, this rug was woven and signed by Hagop Kapoudjian, a slightly older weaver than Zareh whose work George Farrow was particularly dedicated to studying. Indeed, he is the subject of Farrow's 1993 monograph, co authored with Leonard Harrow, entitled Hagop Kapoudjian: the First and Greatest Master of the Koum Kapi School. In the book, Farrow identified some of the main features associated with Hagop's weaving, including a thick pile and an extensive use of purple dye, as on a signed example in the Farrow Collection, which sold in these Rooms, 25 April 2024, lot 183. Kapoudjian was also skilled at the close observation of classical carpet designs, published for the first time in the early 20th century by writers such as Sarre and Trenkwald, which he integrated carefully into his work. This example takes its border directly from the prayer rug in the Metropolitan Museum, even including the four square Kufic compositions which break up the inscription cartouches. The content of the inscription has been changed, however, from Qur'anic verses to lines from the Gulistan of the Persian poet Sa'di (d.1291-2).

In 1961, a photograph of a rug similar to the present lot was published by R.E.G. Macey, Oriental Prayer Rugs, London, p.11. There, it was catalogued as a Hereke. George Farrow believed that the example published by Giuseppe Cohen, Il Fascino del Tapetto Orientale, Milan, 1968, pl.XXVIII was also woven by Hagop, though Cohen attributed it to the sixteenth century. The greater confidence with which we are able to attribute rugs to the Koum Kapi workshop in general, and to Hagop Kapoudjian in particular, is thanks in no small part to the work of George Farrow in building and researching his collection. Another rug, nearly identical to the present example, was sold in these Rooms, 27 April 1995, lot 499.