PROBABLY OTTOMAN BURSA, TURKEY, FIRST HALF 17TH CENTURY

The staggered pattern of this fragment is unusual within the wide scope of Ottoman silks, with its peculiar diamond-shaped central medallion flanked by broad saz leaves and surrounded by similarly flanked leaf-shaped medallions. The diamond-shape in particular is notable, and may be seen on a velvet at the Palazzo Mocenigo, Venice (823; Nurhan Atasoy, Walter B. Denny, Louise W. Mackie and Hülya Tezcan, Ipek. The Crescent & The Rose, Istanbul, 2001, fig.301). This is a part of a group categorised within the 'Italianate' style, persisting in Ottoman weaving even after the emergence of the new, classical court style in the mid-16th century under Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent (r.1520-66). There characteristically heavy vines and large-scale foliage are similar to those seen on our example (ibid., pp.302-3). Similar broad saz leaves are seen on a velvet sold in these Rooms, 30 October 2025, lot 57.