CENTRAL ANATOLIA, SECOND HALF 18TH CENTURY

The prayer rugs woven in the Ladik district of central Anatolia share a small number of designs which ultimately derive from the court production of the previous two centuries. Although their compositions are formulaic, it is the subtle adjustments made to the motifs and the interplay of colour that sets each example apart. Here the deep ruby-red niche has veins of deeper red running through it and the wool has a lustre giving it an almost velvet-like quality. The cerulean-blue spandrels are pierced by the ivory serrated leaves and the crisply crenellated panel beneath the long static tulips clearly defines the two compartments. The alternating tulip and palmette border pattern of our prayer rug is typical of Ladik weaving. It is common for the spandrels to be decorated with the serrated leaf and carnation design, also common in ‘Transylvanian’ rugs, but the placing of a small red samovar on either side of the stepped, hooked gable is a charming addition. A Ladik prayer rug of similar colouring but with a tulip panel beneath the plain red niche rather than above, and which shows greater evidence of wear, was formerly in the collection of the late Hans Purrman, (1880–1966) one of the leading German artists in the first half of the 20th century (https://www.azerbaijanrugs.com/anatolian/ladik/). A comparable rug of similar border design, plain red field and crenellated tulip panel but with a much steeper stepped prayer arch than the moderate gable in the present rug, sold in these Rooms, 27 April 2017, lot 204.