OTTOMAN EGYPT, MID 16TH CENTURY

The emergence of 'Cairene' carpets from Mamluk carpets and their development has been the subject of considerable study. The best introduction is still E. Kuhnel and L. Bellinger, Cairene Rugs and Those Technically Related, Washington D.C., 1957, pp.41-64. It is generally accepted today that the earliest examples of the group were made in Cairo, adapting the Ottoman design aesthetic with traditional Mamluk materials and techniques. The very earliest examples only used the three-colour Mamluk palette (see for example lot 99 in The Bernheimer Family Collection of Carpets, sold in these Rooms, 14th February 1996), but by the mid-16th century a number of other colours had been introduced.

This combination of materials and techniques together with design, dates this group to after the 1517 Ottoman conquest, their production continuing into the 17th century. The field design of the present carpet is typical of one sub-group where the medallion and spandrels are superimposed on an endless repeating field of palmettes and saz leaves. Serare Yetkin discusses this in her study on Turkish carpets (see S. Yetkin, Historical Turkish Carpets, Istanbul, 1981, pp.101-127; also W. Denny, The Origin and Development of Ottoman Court Carpets, Oriental Carpet and Textile Studies II, London, 1986, pp.243-259).