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Lot Essay
The knot count measures approximately 8V x 9H knots per cm. sq.
The particular colour palette of the present rug with its delicate field design of fine floral decoration and the inclusion of birds, together with the specific technique of application of the metal-thread in the highlights, are characteristics most commonly attributed to the Armenian master weaver Garabed Apelyan. Apelyan, who was recognised as a contemporary of Zareh Penyamin, had moved from Kayseri to Istanbul to set up his studio in Gedik Paşa (M. Önder Çokay, 'Istanbul's Masters of Silk', HALI 192, 2017, pp.104-7). A rug with an almost identical cartoon to the present lot, differing only with respect to the minor stripes, was part of the collection of George Farrow, and sold in these Rooms, 24 October 2024, lot 208. Another comparable silk rug attributed to Apelyan, with the addition of animals in the design, is in the Arkas collection, Izmir, (Kum Kapi Rugs From the Arkas Collection, exhib. catalogue, Türk ve Islam Eserleri Museum, Istanbul, 2017, pp.74-75, pl.22).
The particular colour palette of the present rug with its delicate field design of fine floral decoration and the inclusion of birds, together with the specific technique of application of the metal-thread in the highlights, are characteristics most commonly attributed to the Armenian master weaver Garabed Apelyan. Apelyan, who was recognised as a contemporary of Zareh Penyamin, had moved from Kayseri to Istanbul to set up his studio in Gedik Paşa (M. Önder Çokay, 'Istanbul's Masters of Silk', HALI 192, 2017, pp.104-7). A rug with an almost identical cartoon to the present lot, differing only with respect to the minor stripes, was part of the collection of George Farrow, and sold in these Rooms, 24 October 2024, lot 208. Another comparable silk rug attributed to Apelyan, with the addition of animals in the design, is in the Arkas collection, Izmir, (Kum Kapi Rugs From the Arkas Collection, exhib. catalogue, Türk ve Islam Eserleri Museum, Istanbul, 2017, pp.74-75, pl.22).