A very rare wool pile and weft faced polychrome silk and metal thread brocaded Kum Kapi niche rug, attributed to Avedis Tamishjian, Istanbul, Turkey, circa 1920

The reputation of the finely woven rugs known as Kum Kapi (literal translation ‘Sand Gate’) after the location of the workshops where they were made, in the late 19th and early 20th century, today largely rests on the works of the two masters, Hagop Kapoudjian (d. 1946) and Zareh Penyamin (1890 - 1949) and the rugs with silk pile and metal thread brocading which the workshops produced. The Kum Kapi school was reputedly started by two Armenians, Zara Agha of Keyserie and Apraham Agha of Sevas in the late 19th century, see George F. Farrow, Hagop Kapoudjian, The First and Greatest Master of the Kum Kapi School, London 1993, p. 11.  For discussion of the Kum Kapi workshops, see: Farrow, G., Hagop Kapoudjian, ibid; Farrow, G., ‘Zareh's Legacy’, Hali, 1991, issue 58, p.112 and Bensoussan, P., ‘The Masterweavers of Istanbul’, Hali, 1985, issue 26, pp. 34 – 41.

Published examples of Kum Kapi rugs are woven with a silk pile, with metal thread, or polychrome silk and metal thread brocading. The present lot is highly unusual in having been piled in wool. Farrow notes in Hagop Kapoudjian, op.cit., that the very earliest of his rugs were of wool (p.11), possibly as this would have been the material the weavers were more familiar with, possibly to more closely imitate the Safavid prototypes. This rug is however attributed to Avedis Tamishjian on the basis of the kufic signature. Tamishjian was also a master weaver who established workshops in the Kum Kapi district of Istanbul and who worked for the merchant Nuh'negi, see Bensoussan, op.cit., p. 38. 

The 'Sultan's Head' design of this prayer rug is more often associated with the work of a more prolific Kum Kapi master, Zareh Penyamian. While rugs by Zareh appear on the market almost every year, there have been only a handful of rugs from the workshop of Tamishjian to have appeared in the last two decades, Christie's London, 4 October 2011, lot 21; 25 October 2007, lot 103; 15 October 1998, lot 289; 11 October 1990, lot 13; two previously known in the George Farrow collection, see The Farrow Collection Catalogue, No. 2, nos. MWI 45 and MWI 46 and a piece sold at Sotheby's New York 26th October 2012, lot 144, with similar niche and spandrel design and differing border.

This design is based upon Safavid 16th and 17th wool prayer rugs and may have been taken from pieces found in the Top Kapi treasury or located in the Istanbul marketplace. The infill of the niche is closely related to The Fletcher Niche Rug, now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Inv. No. 17.120.124 and the similar piece in the Top Kapi Saray Museum, Inv. No. 13/2042 illustrated in the catalogue of known examples of Top Kapi prayer rugs, collated by Michael Franses, see Eiland, M.L., Jr. and Robert Pinner, eds., Oriental Carpet and Textile Studies, vol. V, part 2: ‘The Salting Carpets’, ICOC, 1999, p.81, pl.9 and 10. The vases either side of the niche may have been the personal inspiration of Zareh Penyamine, with whom the design is most often associated, Tamishjian, or one of the other masters, as this is not seen in the known Safavid originals, although occasionally a vase motif is used in the upper part of the niche (see OCTS V, ibid., pl.44, 46, 47 and 51, pp.97-99).

The cartoon with cloudband field, and vase spandrels was used for several Kum Kapi rugs, usually with a border design which includes inscription cartouches in the upper halves and top border, similar to the border system seen in the Fletcher and Top Kapi rugs cited previously, including in the example by Tamishjian sold Sotheby's New York noted above and also in for example the pieces attributed to Zareh, see Sotheby’s London, 1st November 2016, lot 95; Sotheby’s New York, 7th December 2010, lots 114 and 119. A Sultan’s Head niche field in combination with an arabesque scroll and palmette border is less often seen. A related example, also by Zareh, was sold in the sale of Carpets From The Barbara Zidell Sedlin Family Collection, Sotheby’s New York, 3rd March 2009, lot 52; the present lot however includes the addition of a pair of lobed inscription cartouches on either side of the border. The combination of border and field design, the fine weave, polychrome silk and metal thread weft brocaded detail, and most particularly the kufic signature attributed to Avedis Tamishjian and the use of wool for the pile, together render this an extraordinary and rare, perhaps unique, example of weaving from the Kum Kapi workshops.

Knot count: vertical 9-10/cm; horizontal 9/cm.

Cotton foundation, wool pile