EGYPT, SECOND QUARTER 16TH CENTURY

The emergence of 'Cairene' rugs from Mamluk rugs and their development has been the subject of considerable study. The best introduction is still Khnel, E. and Bellinger, L.: Cairene Rugs and those technically related, Washington D.C., 1957, pp.41-64. Other useful contributions are Yetkin, S.: Historical Turkish Carpets, Istanbul, 1981, pp.101-127; Pinner, R. and Franses, M.: 'East Mediterranean Carpets in the Victoria and Albert Museum', HALI, vol.4, no.1, 1981, pp.39-40; and Denny, W.: The Origin and Development of Ottoman Court Carpets', Oriental Carpet and Textile Studies II, London, 1986, pp.243-259. The present carpet is typical of the group, its field design of a type popular in Ottoman Art of the first half of the sixteenth century with its palmettes and saz leaves. The medallion and spandrels which overlay this first design are slightly later in taste, containing the quatre fleurs (carnation, tulip, hyacinth and peony) popularised by the court artist Kara Memi in the mid-sixteenth century (Atasoy, N. and Raby, J.: Iznik, the Pottery of Ottoman Turkey, London, 1989, pp.222-3). This carpet is woven with a fineness which is rare is carpets of this group, being similarly fine to one sold in our London salerooms, 17 October 1996, lot 412. The field here is also of identical design. That rug however did not have a medallion. The present medallion, its quatre fleurs tied by cintamani stripes, is identical to that on a carpet in the Textile Museum, Washington (Khnel, E. and Bellinger, L.: op.cit., pl.XXIII).