CENTRAL ANATOLIA, 18TH CENTURY

An example dated to the 17th/18th Century which is in the Vakiflar Museum Istanbul shows an equal arrangement of the small niches within a panel with the scattered cross-motifs.(Belkis Balpinar and Udo Hirsch, Carpets of the Vakiflar Museum Istanbul, Wesel, 1988, pp.138, 316-17, pl.70) The pattern of triple pediment and small "skittle-pattern" band with mill-pattern minor stripe found there is repeated in our rug, and even the colour is very similar as is the border in both design and colour. The end-fragment added to our example, which appears from the same rug is interesting. The mihrab of a prayer niche overlaps the border and is flanked by two stylised flowerheads on each side - it the same design as the top part of the Vakiflar piece with one larger prayer niche flanked by two smaller ones which are lost. This overlap of the end border appears not to be known in other examples.