CENTRAL ANATOLIA, LATE 17TH CENTURY

The present prayer rug is a close relative of the elegant 17th century double column prayer rugs of West Anatolia, such as the prayer rug formerly in the Emil Schmutzler Collection (Stefano Ionescu, Antique Ottoman Rugs In Transylvania, Rome, 2005, cat.197, p.162). It retains the defined architectural columns and elegant proportions of the earlier prayer rugs but also in its design and drawing looks towards the later red ground prayer rugs with flower-filled vertical stripes, such as the rug from the Bergi Andonian Collection sold at Sotheby's, New York, 19 May 2011,lot 48 and the example of the same design sold in these Rooms, 2 October 2012, lot 48.