A RARE SMALL OUSHAK 'MEDALLION' RUG, WEST ANATOLIA

The Bernheimer Family Collection of Carpets, Christie's London, February 14, 1996, lot 177

Denny, W., The Classical Tradition in Anatolian Carpets, Washington D.C., 2002, p. 115, no. 35

This rug is notable for its size, in which the design elements germane to Medallion Oushak carpets are here condensed into a rare and striking small scale version of the classic genre. For an example and brief overview of the large ‘Medallion’ Oushak carpets please see lot 272 in this sale. The red field, with a blue foliate stencil-style infill, surrounds a primary onion shaped medallion with small pendants and similar half medallions above and below, whilst the subsidiary medallions are simplified versions of their antecedents. The typical cloud collar is green with red decoration for the central medallion and changes to dark walnut decorated in red for the end part-medallions. By eliding the quatre-foil arabesque central motif found in the main medallions of the large carpets and concentrating on the pendant split palmettes, the weaver has created a powerful variant that manages to convey the essential character of the much larger carpets in this rare small format.