THE VOLKMANN BERGAMA RUG, WEST ANATOLIA

Martin Volkmann, Munich

Peter Lehmann-Bärenklau, sold Christies, London, 8 April 2014, lot 12

Spuhler, Friedrich; Konig, Hans and Volkmann, Martin, Old Eastern Carpets: Masterpieces in German Private Collections, Munich, 1978, pl. 21, pp. 70-71.

Hali Issue 161, Autumn 2009, Letters, p. 19

Hali Issue 180, Summer 2014, p. 130

“Occasionally a rug appears which, [...] is so exciting in design as to find a definite place in almost any rug collection.” Joseph V. McMullan

An iconic and rare Anatolian weaving of compelling design, previously in the collection of the respected rug connoisseur Martin Volkmann, the closest comparable being a rug in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, from the collection of Joseph V. McMullan.

Usually attributed to Bergama, (although occasionally to Konya), and distinguished by their exceptionally wide borders decorated with bold palmettes, and with narrow fields, these rugs divide into two discrete groups: in the earlier pieces, dating from the late 17th or early 18^th century, such as the present example, the field is filled with rosettes; these further sub-divide into those with a central ‘Holbein’ medallion and those without. The second and younger group, dated to the 18^th and 19^th centuries, have a hooked vine trellis in the field and degraded versions of the border palmettes. A full list of the examples from both groups, with publication details, can be found in Hali, Issue 148, September-October 2006, p. 111. Of the older group dating to the late 17th or early 18th century, there are three examples with a rosette-only field: Herrmann, E., Seltene Orientteppiche X, No.16; Sotheby’s New York, 7 April 1999, lot 35; and Jacoby, H., Eine Sammlung Orientalische Teppiche, pl. 25. Their borders have waterbug-like palmettes. Those with a central ‘Holbein’ medallion are the present example (wide border, ‘heart’ inner guard) (1); the rug in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. no. 1974.149.37, McMullan, J.V., Islamic Carpets, New York 1965, pl. 114, pp. 332-333 (similar wide border and inner guard) (2); and two variants - Bausback, Antike Orientteppiche, Brauschweig, 1978, p.83 (‘heart’ inner guard, but narrow border) (3); Rippon Boswell, Wiesbaden, 20 May 2006, lot 97 (no inner guard, wide border, palmettes and rosettes in field) (4).

Whilst almost identical in design with the present lot, there are several ‘dislocations’ in the drawing of the motifs in the McMullan piece, including in the central medallion, and in the border palmettes. The drawing of the Volkmann rug, is by contrast fully resolved, sympathetically synthesising elements from the classical Turkic tradition (the octagonal ‘Holbein’ medallion), more naive village motifs such as the rosettes and the delightful heart motifs, with their small infill of carnation and tulip sprays, and the bold palmettes, (perhaps recalling the large scale motifs of Ottoman velvet panels), which so successfully hold the spacious border. The outcome is an object of extraordinary graphic power.

In Hali Issue 161, this rug is visible hanging on the wall behind Martin Volkmann, in the photograph accompanying Hans Konig’s remembrances of his friend.