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Lot Essay
The earliest medallion Ushak carpets can be dated comfortably back into the fifteenth century, particularly on the basis of comparisons with other media from the Ottoman empire of that period (Suriano, Carlo Maria: "Oak leaves and Arabesques", Hali, 116, May-June 2001, pp.106-115). In that article Suriano pulls together the most magnificent early examples of the group, many of which share border features with each other, and also an elegance of drawing of the main field, which make it clear why the design was so popular.
The present rug seems to come from the stage of the development immediately after that. The drawing is still very tight, and the range of colours excellent, more extensive in fact than in the earlier examples. Three shades of blue are used in contrast to the usual two, and there is an extra pink tone which is found in a small number of the better Ushak carpets of the sixteenth century. All these colour features link this carpet to others made in the second half of the sixteenth century, whether of this design (Henry du Pont Collection, Winterthur, inv. no.69.1393 with cloudband border), or of related Ushak designs such as the small medallion (Christie's London, 17th October 1996, lot 411 for example).
The border of the present rug is extremely unusual. While a very frequent Ushak medallion carpet border has palmettes alternating with groups of three angular leaves, the other examples almost invariably have the palmettes facing either directly into or out from the field. This narrow version of the design, with the palmettes facing in the direction of the meandering vine is very rare indeed. The proportions of the border, coupled with the spacing in the field and the use of a relatively light blue for the medallion link this carpet to one sold in London ten years ago (Sotheby's, 9th October 1991, lot 170, unillustrated but reproduced in Hali 60, December 1991, p.155). That example was of very similar size and broke the design at the same points as here. A fortuitous choice of colour in the present carpet is the use of a green for the flames around the main medallion in place of the corrosive brown which was normally used and was also present in the Sotheby carpet. These features make this an exceptional Ushak medallion carpet, and one which has survived in remarkably good condition.
The present rug seems to come from the stage of the development immediately after that. The drawing is still very tight, and the range of colours excellent, more extensive in fact than in the earlier examples. Three shades of blue are used in contrast to the usual two, and there is an extra pink tone which is found in a small number of the better Ushak carpets of the sixteenth century. All these colour features link this carpet to others made in the second half of the sixteenth century, whether of this design (Henry du Pont Collection, Winterthur, inv. no.69.1393 with cloudband border), or of related Ushak designs such as the small medallion (Christie's London, 17th October 1996, lot 411 for example).
The border of the present rug is extremely unusual. While a very frequent Ushak medallion carpet border has palmettes alternating with groups of three angular leaves, the other examples almost invariably have the palmettes facing either directly into or out from the field. This narrow version of the design, with the palmettes facing in the direction of the meandering vine is very rare indeed. The proportions of the border, coupled with the spacing in the field and the use of a relatively light blue for the medallion link this carpet to one sold in London ten years ago (Sotheby's, 9th October 1991, lot 170, unillustrated but reproduced in Hali 60, December 1991, p.155). That example was of very similar size and broke the design at the same points as here. A fortuitous choice of colour in the present carpet is the use of a green for the flames around the main medallion in place of the corrosive brown which was normally used and was also present in the Sotheby carpet. These features make this an exceptional Ushak medallion carpet, and one which has survived in remarkably good condition.