Ushak Lotto Carpet

The source of the carpet comes from the book How to Read – Islamic Carpets, Walter B. Denny, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 2014 fig.51 and Orientel Rugs, Volume 4 Turkish, Kurt Zipper and Claudia Fritzsche, Antique Collectors' Club, 1989 nr.78. This 15th-century carpet is from central Anatolia, circa 1500-1550. The town of Ushak, north of Denizli, is probably one of the most important and renowned carpet centers. Carpets have survived from the 16th century and can be seen in several museums. In the 17th century great quantities of Ushak carpets were made for the royal houses of Europe, often incorporating crests; many Christian churches, not only in Transylvania, were often decorated with very large pieces. According to their structure and patterning, there are several types of Ushak carpets: the star Ushak, the medallion Ushak, the 'bird' carpet (with a white background, the name relates to the shapes of the field motifs), and 'Chintamani' carpets (often with a white background and three-ball pattern, mostly in connection with cloud bands). Many great painters have ensured the survival of Ushak carpet designs by including them in their works. Two representatives of the Ushak group take their name from such renowned artists: pieces with plaited band medallions in several variations are named 'Holbein' carpets after Hans Holbein, the younger; 'Lotto' carpets refer to the painter Lorenzo Lotto. Beautiful old Ushak carpets are rare and seldom appear in the trade.Belonging to the same family as the "Holbein-Rugs," The type is usually identified as a "Lotto" design, again after a 16th century European master, Lorenzo Lotto, of the Venetian School, who represented such rugs in his paintings. Instead of the "Holbein" octagons, we find here an open design of continuously alternating rows of octagonal and cross-shaped forms created entirely from palmette leaves in yellow, set against the red of the ground. In harmony with the "Holbeins," the "Lotto" rugs use the same Kufic border design. The design of the rug is interpreted by our designers without a Kufic border, the most appropriate colors to match the original are used for this rug.