Object Description
An Antique Kilim Fragment
West or central Anatolia
First half 19th century
258 cm. x 88 cm. / 8 ft 5 ½ ins by 2 ft 10 ½ ins
This fragment formed one half of a large kilim and exhibits an unusual tribal design. The striped end border has narrow interlocking ‘S’ patterns and is flanked by a skirt decorated with animal-tree motifs and interlocking flowerheads. The field consists of horizontal rows of varying colours containing medallions (linked vertically and horizontally to one another) between two smaller medallions.
For a Konya kilim with similar animal-tree and ‘S’ motifs in the border, see Yanni Petsopoulis, Kilims, p. 123, no. 142. Another kilim from the Konya-Niğde region in central Anatolia, containing a comparable design of linked medallions in the skirt to that of the field in the present kilim, is also illustrated in Petsopoulis, p. 128, no. 153.
This wonderful piece would make a colourful, bold piece of wall art when hung like a tapestry on a wall.