WEST ANATOLIA, CIRCA 1850

Details

A MELAS RUG
West Anatolia, circa 1850
The burnt-orange field with angular polychrome flowerheads with an inner floral frame extending into an ivory mihrab arch containing angular linked palmettes, in a sandy yellow paired polychrome geometric motif border between an inner aubergine and outer ivory angular flowerhead stripe, narrow chequered and zigzag minor stripes, slight wear, short original kilim strips, selvages fraying in parts
5ft.5in. x 4ft.4in. (165cm. x 132cm.)

Provenance

Anon sale, Rippon Boswell, Wiesbaden, 18 November 1989, lot 72.

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis

Lot Essay

The border design of this rug is rare to find on a Melas prayer rug. It derives from the borders of earlier West Anatolian rugs of medallion design (McMullan, Joseph V.: Islamic Carpets, New York, 1965, no.80, pp.256-7; Bausback, F.: Antike Meisterstücke Orientalischer Knüpfkunst, Mannheim, 1975, pp.84-5; Rippon Boswell, Wiesbaden, 14 November 1992, lot 75). The present version, typically for Melas, uses a wider variety of colours for the leaf forms than the majority of the earlier examples.

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