WEST ANATOLIA, LATE 16TH/EARLY 17TH CENTURY

Star Ushak carpets as the present example are one of the best known types of carpet within the field of "classical carpets". The earliest Star Ushaks are in keeping with early Turkish design traditions (Tapis Present de L'Orient A L'Occident, Paris, 1989, p.94) with a strong allusion to an infinite repeat. As such the star design can be used on carpets of any size, thus Star Ushak carpets can be found in many varying dimensions. They first appear in Western paintings in 1534 in a painting by Paris Bordone and continue to be depicted until the mid-17th century (Donald King and David Sylvester, The Eastern Carpet in the Western World, London, 1983, p.70). Their designs were also copied by domestic European weavers as evidenced by a 16th century English carpet with Star design in the collection of The Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry at Boughton House (op. cit, p.71, no.37).
Our lot shows the most popular version of the design with large eight-looped medallions and diamond lozenges. The blue border however is unusual, though not unique. The palmette vine design is a stylised version of one executed on a fragmentary Ushak carpet sold in these Rooms in Rugs and Carpets: Battilossi Tappeti d'Antiquariato, 11 February 1998, lot 90.