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Lot Essay
The knot count is 11V x 9H per cm. sq.
After 1870 in Anatolia there was a resurgence in popularity of the designs of the classical woven masterpieces of the 16th and 17th centuries which the master weavers in Istanbul saw in both the great Turkish collections of the day as well as in the recently printed exhibition catalogues of the expanding European collections. Many of the weavers drew their inspiration from the delicate flowering designs woven in the Safavid, Ottoman or Mughal periods (Leonard Harrow, The Fabric of Paradise, Essex, 1988, p.78). The present lot however is highly unusual in that its design is drawn from a classical 17th century Caucasian 'Dragon' carpet, with a bold overall serrated leaf lattice enclosing stylised angular dragons, leopards, fawns, pheasants, flaming lions and other animal combat groups but on a miniaturised scale. The border design of paired entwined animals that alternate with decorative palmettes is not one that is normally associated with this group however and has been re-imagined showing a proficient level of artistic licence being used by the weaver.
After 1870 in Anatolia there was a resurgence in popularity of the designs of the classical woven masterpieces of the 16th and 17th centuries which the master weavers in Istanbul saw in both the great Turkish collections of the day as well as in the recently printed exhibition catalogues of the expanding European collections. Many of the weavers drew their inspiration from the delicate flowering designs woven in the Safavid, Ottoman or Mughal periods (Leonard Harrow, The Fabric of Paradise, Essex, 1988, p.78). The present lot however is highly unusual in that its design is drawn from a classical 17th century Caucasian 'Dragon' carpet, with a bold overall serrated leaf lattice enclosing stylised angular dragons, leopards, fawns, pheasants, flaming lions and other animal combat groups but on a miniaturised scale. The border design of paired entwined animals that alternate with decorative palmettes is not one that is normally associated with this group however and has been re-imagined showing a proficient level of artistic licence being used by the weaver.