A RARE OUSHAK RUG, WEST ANATOLIA

John Eskenazi, London, 2001

The particular version of the ragged palmette and leaf border seen on this rug, with ‘W’ motifs radiating from the geometric interlaced knots enclosing eight pointed stars, which are interspersed with the palmette motif bracketed by hooked leaves, is more usually associated with ’Bellini’ or keyhole rugs and is seen for example in the 16th century narrow keyhole rug in the Museum of Islamic art, Berlin, Inv.No. I.6930 and in the rug in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, James F. Ballard Collection, Inv.No. 22.100.109. A rendition of this border can be seen in a painting of circa 1545 attributed to Master John, on a rug beneath the feet of Katherine Parr (the sixth and last wife of King Henry VIII), in the National Portrait Gallery, London (NPG 4451) and in the ‘Portrait of a Gentleman’, of circa 1562, by an unknown Venetian artist, and now in the Museo Civico, Padua. Both rugs and paintings can be found illustrated in John Mill’s article ‘Carpets in Paintings: The ‘Bellini’, ‘Keyhole’ or ‘Re-entrant ‘ Rugs in Hali 58, August 1991, pp. 86 - 103. Mills, ibid. notes (pp.96 - 97) ‘The form of the border showing the ‘W’s is hardly known on other types of rug, but it does appear on a ‘kilim style’ Lotto in the Williamsburg Collection. There are also two fragments of borders of this type in the Keir Collection which it is suggested are from Lotto rugs.’ The Ballard ‘Bellini’ rug has a stylised hanging lamp motif in the niche which is decorated with scrolls issuing from a small hooked motif, similar to that seen in the present lot in the outer guard stripes. The red ground Lotto in this sale (the preceding lot, no. 259) has the same outer guard stripe, and a closely related inner guard stripe to those found on the present lot, although there flanking the more frequently seen ragged palmette and hooked bar border. Whilst there are other examples for the primary border and guard stripes, the field design, with its rigorously executed small diaper pattern of red bars overlaying a delicate walnut brown trellis on an ivory ground, appears to be without parallel.