ISTANBUL, WEST ANATOLIA, CIRCA 1920

The knot count measures approximately 8V x 8H knots per cm. sq.

This elegant design of curvilinear " compartments" derives from a more complex Safavid cartoon produced in the first half of the 16th century. While simplified in the present rug, it originally contained a series of creatures borrowed from Chinese art, such as the dragon and phoenix in combat and the benevolent phoenix or simurgh. Other compartments were filled with decorative arrangements of Chinese ch'i-lin and flying geese, as well as the purely Islamic arabesque. The border with its medallions and cartouches reflects those of Safavid bookbindings, which also make great use of ribbon-like Chinese cloud bands, by now thoroughly assimilated into Persian art. A complete carpet woven of this design belongs to the Musée Historique des Tissus in Lyon, France, while a shortened version, formerly in the collection of Charles T. Yerkes, was sold to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1905-10, Accession Number: 10.61.3, (F. Sarre and H.Trenkwald, Altorientalische Teppiche, Vienna and Leipzig, 1926, Vol.1, pl.14).

While the original carpet was woven in wool, the present rug has a lustrous silk pile and a finer knot count. The Koum Kapi weavers accurately reproduced a number of Safavid carpet designs. It is likely that many of the rugs in the Topkapi Saray Museum in Istanbul were studied by the weavers and can be viewed as prototypes for their own design.