Object Description
Wonderful Early Oushak Carpet
6.55 x 3.71 metres
The weaving workshops of Western Anatolia, where Oushak carpets like this one originated, have a rich history dating back to at least the Early Modern era. The 14th-century explorer Marco Polo once remarked, “Here they make the most beautiful silks and carpets in the world, and with the most beautiful colours.” In the 19th century, these rugs began to be woven in Persia, specifically tailored for the Western market, and they are often found in historic homes across the UK and Europe.
This beautiful Oushak carpet, being an earlier example, dating to around the turn of the 20th Century, showcases a wonderful patina, lending a charming subtlety to its fine vegetable-dyed colours – it employs a warm terracotta tone in the ground, and a delicate abrash – or, variation in tone – in the wide decorative border and in the stamped motif across the field, ranging from soft sea green to sky blue. This two-tone palette serves to compliment the carpet’s restrained, simple design, and lends the work a feeling of quiet formality.
Retained in very good original condition for everyday use, with its borders complete on all sides.
A handsome early Oushak carpet, ideal for a dining or drawing room, with an effortless elegance which would feel at home in any space.