KONYA REGION, CENTRAL ANATOLIA, CIRCA 1800

The overall design of this well preserved Ladik prayer rug is derived from the 17th century 'Transylvanian' group, which were woven in Anatolia and have been preserved in numerous ecclesiastical and municipal buildings in Western Romania today. Variants on this design include examples with additional motifs in the field: an example in the Louvre has a small chandelier (acc.no. AD37632), while another in the George Washington Textile Museum has a miniature teapot (acc.n.R34.6.4). The latter has a yellow-ground border with angular meandering vine and archaic zoomorphic forms, closely matching that on this example, as well as enigmatic motifs inside the lappets above the prayer niche. A closely related Ladik prayer rug was gifted to the Saint Louis Museum of Art by Nellie Ballard White, daughter of the great American collector, James F. Ballard, whose collection was bequeathed to both the Saint Louis and Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc.311:1972). Other comparable rugs include a more worn example formerly in the Jim Dixon collection, sold Bonhams Skinner, 4 May 2022, lot 75, and another sold at Rippon Boswell, Wiesbaden, 23 November 2024, lot 82.