WEST ANATOLIA, 17TH CENTURY

The combination of the white ground and central medallion of this rug make it one of the rarer designs seen in Transylvanian rugs. The hexagonal medallion derives from small medallion Ushak carpets of the 16th century. Four examples of similar rugs are illustrated in Stefano Ionescu, Antique Ottoman Rugs in Transylvania, Rome, 2005, p.128. Of these examples cat.114, a rug in the National Museum of Art, Bucharest, is the closest comparable sharing a number of design features including the hexagonal medallion, ivory gothic border, rosette and leaf spandrels and the curled fronds that issue forth from the spandrels into the field. A related rug but with ivory spandrels was sold in these Rooms, 13 April 2000, lot 80.