Lot Essay
This rug uses the large flowerhead and paired leaf motif which is frequently encountered in the borders of many 'Transylvanian' prayer rugs, such as that in lot 214. It repeats this motif not only in the border but throughout the field. Another long rug with the same combination was published by the late Magda Shapira (Anatolian Carpets from the Magda Shapira Collection, exhibition catalogue, London, 1976, no.10). A rug with the same field is in a private Italian Collection (Eskenazi, John J.: Il Tappeto Orientale, Torino, 1996, no.42, p.142). A further rug which uses this field motif is amusingly prominent in a painting by Osman Hamdi Bey of The Carpet Merchant, painted in 1888, now in the Berlin Museum (Oler, N. (intro by): Turkish Carpets from the 13th-18th centuries, Istanbul, 1996, frontispiece to plates).
Both Mrs Shapira and Professor Alexander refer to another example published by Reinhard Hubel (The Book of Carpets, London, 1971, pl.20) where Hubel notes that this design in Turkey is called kafala (head-pattern). This substantiates Alexander's assertion that the flowerhead and paired leaf motif is itself only an avatar of the much older and very symbolic ram's-horn motif which can be traced well back into the prehistoric period.
Both Mrs Shapira and Professor Alexander refer to another example published by Reinhard Hubel (The Book of Carpets, London, 1971, pl.20) where Hubel notes that this design in Turkey is called kafala (head-pattern). This substantiates Alexander's assertion that the flowerhead and paired leaf motif is itself only an avatar of the much older and very symbolic ram's-horn motif which can be traced well back into the prehistoric period.