BERGAMA REGION, WEST ANATOLIA, 18TH CENTURY

The design of the present rug was named after Domenico Ghirlandaio the mid-15th century Italian artist who depicted a rug with this design in his painting, Madonna Enthroned for the church of San Giusto alle Mura which is now in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence, (Volkmar Gantzhorn, The Christian Oriental Carpet, Köln, 1991, ill.482). While the exact type of rug depicted in this painting has never been found, the field design of the present lot and associated carpets are similar in style to the painted rug. This design can be encountered in Turkish carpets dating back to the fifteenth century but which continues to be seen well into the nineteenth century. Serare Yetkin classifies the rug depicted by Ghirlandaio, and by association similar rugs, as type III Holbein carpets based on the octagon-in-squares centres of the medallions (S. Yetkin, Historical Turkish Carpets, Istanbul, 1981, pp.59-65). The design layout is based upon two octagons each set within a medallion framed by radiating hooked guls superimposed on a concentric stepped reserve, enclosed within a quartered and serrated flowerhead border. An earlier 17th century example, formerly in the Bernheimer Collection, sold in these Rooms, 14 February 1996, lot 110, now in the Zaleski Collection, Italy. For further closely related examples see; E. Herrmann, Von Uschak Bis Yarkand, Munich, 1979, pl 3, p.31; E. Herrmann, Seltene Orientteppiche VIII, Munich 1986, pl.9, pp.34-5; E. Herrmann, Seltene Orienteppiche IX, Munich, 1987, pl.10, pp.36-7.