However, researchers then encounter an unxexplained gap until the fragmentsof 3 rd and 6th century
carpets made usimg a simple single weft knot discovered at the turnof this century at Lou-Lan west of Lake Lop in Eastern Turkistan.
Possibly the sophisticated technique of the Pazarik carpet had beenforgotten over the intervening centuries, and the process of evolutionbegan all over again with the discovery of a simple knot.
When we come to Islamic times, we find among the Abbasid carpet fragmentswith geometric designs some found at Fostat (old Cairo) whose knottingtechnique resembles that of Eastern Turkistan.
A wool carpet fragment bearing a palmette motif on a red ground andworked in Gordes knots (named after the Turkish carpet weaving centre ofGordes, and alternatively known as the Turkish knot), found at Fostat andnow in Cairo's Museum of Islamic Art marks the beginning of knotted carpetmaking in the mediaeval Islamic world. It is thought that this carpet musthave been exported from Western Turkistan between the 7th and 9th centuries.Another fragment in the Berlin Museum of Islamic Art may have been importedfrom Western Turkistan, perhaps Bukhara, to Egypt. Since there are no othercontemporary fragments from that region for comparison, we cannot say more.
The other carpet fragments discovered in Egypt are made in thesinglewarp knot technique of Eastern Turkistan, and the dominant ground colouris dark blue. These fragments are now in the Benaki Museum in Athens.
Anatolian Turkish carpets dating from the 13th century found in Konyaare woven in the Gordes knot
technique. These carpets are the earliest for which dating involve nospeculation. The discovery of eight Turkish Seljuk carpets by F.R. Martinin Alaeddin Mosque in Konya in 1905, was followed by three more Seljukcarpets found by R.M. Riefstahl in 1930, and seven small carpet fragmentsfound in Fostat in 1935-1936.
The art of carpet weaving was introduced to the Islamic world by Turkishtribes migrating from Central Asia, and the single-warp knot spread asfar as Spain. Carpets from Turkey were highly valued in Europe, where theybecame a popular accessory in paintings.
The introduction of animal figures into 14the century Turkish carpetsparallels the vigorous use of animal designs in many other branches ofSeljuk art. These carpets were already being exported to Europe, as picturesof Seljuk period Turkish carpets in European paintings of this period indicate.Original examples of the carpets bearing animal figures were not discovereduntil centuries later, in Konya, Istanbul and Fosfat.
Following the three Seljuk carpets which. R.M. Riefstabl found in Beysehir,he also found a fourth large 15th century carpet which was the prototypeof the so-called Holbein carpets, representing another phase in the developmentof Turkish carpets.
The carpets represented another phase in the development of Turkishcarpets.
These carpets were depicted in paintings by Italian and later Flemishand Dutch artists between the mid-
15th and 16th centuries, but became known as Holbein carpets becausethey appeared most frequently and in greatest detail in paintings by thisartist. They feature borders with an interlaced design inspired by thekufic Arabic script, and a field of geometric designs enhanced by highlystylised floriate motifs. They mark the beginning of a new Ottoman Turkishstyle of carpet design. The 16th century saw the rise of a new and brilliantperiod in Turkish carpet weaving, corresponding to the classical periodin Ottoman architecture and other art. Carpets made in the Usak regionmark the commencement of this trend, with an extraordinary diversity ofmotif and composition which still await detailed study. Usak carpets canbe divided into two main types: those with medallions and those with adesign of stars.
But variations on these two themes employ and immense repertoire ofmotifs. The medallion carpets were often conceived as an infinite repetitivepattern by placing halved medallions in the four corners around the centralmedallion.
The medallion itself is a motif inspired by book binding and illuminationof the type practised by the carpet weavers of Tabriz, but now combinedwith the idea of infinite repetition typical of Turkish carpets.
Instead of retaining the principles of composition applicable to thearts of the book, Turkish designers were guided entirely by the rules andcharacteristics of the textile medium in which the weavers worked.
Star Usak carpets display the principle of infinite repetition evenmore prominently, this effect being
achieved by arranging small medallions in the form of eight-pointedstars and diamonds in offset rows.
This type is smaller in size than the medallion carpet. Production ofStar Usaks continued for only two centuries, disappearing by the end ofthe 17th century, while the medallion Usak carpets continued to be wovenuntil the mid-18th century.
In the late 16th century, an entirely different type of Turkish carpet,new both in technique and its predominantly naturalistic motifs, emergedalongside the classic Turkish carpet. Known as the Ottoman court carpet,it employed the Persian rather that Turkish knot. The Persian knot, alsocalled the asymmetrical knot, allows a finer, velvet-like texture to becreated. Naturalistic motifs appear simultaneously in all other Turkisharts at this time, with a profusion of tulips, hyacints, roses, blossoms,and curved leaves. This style continued to evolve until the end of the18th century.
Ottoman court prayer rugs were made in the Gordes, Kula, Ladik and Usaktradition during the 18th century. A magnificent prayer rug known to havebelonged to Ahmet I (1603-1617) in Topkapi Place Museums is still clearlyworthy of a sultan, despite the burns caused by a brazier being placedon top of it.
Another court prayer rug in Berlin Museum has a chronogram in the borderwith the date 1019 (1610).
The oldest known prayer rugs to have survived date from the 15th century,and constitute a distinct category of Turkish carpets.
Three of these in the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art in Istanbulfeature completely different compositions, which indicates that this wasa period when innovation and creativity were given free rein.
Other 15th century prayer rugs can be seen in Renaissance period paintingsby the Bellinis, Carpaccio and Lotto.
Giovanni Bellini's portrait of Duke Loredan of Venice dated 1507 inthe Munich Gallery shows a prayer rug identical to one in the Berlin Museumof Islamic Art. Another early example can be seen in a painting by GentileBellini hanging in the National Gallery in London.
The serrated lappet on the Bellini prayer rugs is replaced by a largepalmette on the lower edge of a magnificent early 16th century Usak carpetin Berlin Museum. Another Usak carpet dated 1600 in the Bode collectionis among the first examples of the double mihrap niche rugs with a centralmedallion and an unusually broad border.
Unfortunately, very few prayer rugs dating from the 15th and 16th centurieshave survived, but the number and variety rises sharply for the 17th century,when we find Gordes prayer rugs with curved niches closely resembling courtstyle rugs.
Kula prayer rugs are distinguished by plainer niches and up to ten narrowborders. There is also a type known as the landscape Kula, with designsof cottages and trees.
Ladik prayer rugs are noted for their soft wool and glowing colours,and are characterised by rows of long stemmed tulips below or above theprayer niche. Those of Kirsehir and Mucur have niches with double or tripleoutlines and their colour schemes include two or three tones of red. Withtheir vivid and brilliant colours, Milas prayer rugs preserve the formsof Gordes prayer rugs with the additional influences of Usak and Bergamarugs.Turkish carpet weaving continued to develop through to the end ofthe nineteenth century, and still survives today in Konya, Kayseri, Sivas,Kirsehir, Isparta, Fethiye, Dosemalti, Balikesir, Yagcibedir, Usak, Bergama,Kula, Gordes, Millas, Canakkale, Ezine, Kars and Erzurum. Enormous effortsbeing made to prevent the art of carpet weaving from falling into declineare meeting with considerable success in many areas of Turkey today.
TO BE CONTINUED
16 Oct 96