Bergama

Bergama
214 x 162 cm (7' x 5' 4")
Turkey, mid 19th century
Condition: very good, full pile, partially slightly corroded red
Warp: wool, weft: wool, pile: wool

Weavers in Anatolia have created carpets in this two-medallion style since the 15th century, and the early variants of these designs can be seen in the paintings of the 15th and 16th century, in paticular those by German artist Hans Holbein the younger.
The relationship to large-pattern Holbein carpets is clear and particularly obvious in the complex star interlace seen in the centre of the medallion. In some of the 16th-century carpets now in Turkish museums, the eight spokes are filled with forms that resemble birds, but by the 18th and 19th century these are more abstract and appear as hooked forms.
The renowned collector Joseph McMullan loved this type of carpet and gave one to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the other to the Brooklyn Museum of Art; both are very similar to this example, which has a wider range of colours and small filler motifs.

Estimate: € 10000 - 14000