Argentine Rugs

There has long been a fascination with the symbolism of the dragon and its depiction in carpet weavings. The design of ‘Dragon’ carpets consists of a field pattern composed of different colored overlaid lattices formed of pointed, serrated leaves creating intersecting lozenges, which alternately contain palmettes and are flanked by confronting stylized dragons, birds, or animal figures. The most archaic of the ‘Dragon’ carpets include dragon motifs with birds and running animals relatively naturalistically drawn, which stand either alone or in confronting pairs facing a tree. The Graf carpet, originally found in a Damascene mosque, now in the Islamiches Museum, Berlin, is considered to be the oldest example of this type, see Serare Yetkin, Early Caucasian Carpets in Turkey, Vol. II, London, 1978, p.8, fig.118. Yetkin defines four types of ‘Dragon’ carpet: ‘Archaic’, ‘Four-Dragon’, ‘Dragon-and-Phoenix’ and as a further combined development of the latter, the ‘Two-Dragon’ style, of which the present carpet falls into the ‘Dragon-and-Phoenix group along with other examples, some of which include two fragments, one in the Museum fur Kunst und Gerwerbe, Hamburg; another in the Christian Museum, Esztergom, Hungary, a complete carpet in the Kier collection; an incomplete example in the Textile Museum, Washington, D.C; the ‘Cassirer’ Dragon carpet in the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection, Lugano; the Ali Pasa Mosque carpet in Tokat, and a further example in the Vakiflar Hali Museum, Istanbul (S. Yetkin, op. cit. pp.16-20). It has been suggested that the earliest examples of the Caucasian ‘Dragon’ carpets...

This offset pattern is composed of leaves and lotus palmettes filling the various compartments against the imposing ground, while heraldic lions rear across the strapwork borders. On...

There has long been a fascination with the symbolism of the dragon and its depiction in carpet weavings. The design of ‘Dragon’ carpets consists of a field pattern composed of differ...

This lattice pattern is composed of palmettes and leaves filling the various compartments against the imposing ground. One has the impression that it is only part of a larger scheme designed 15th-century rug from the Mamluk era, Cairo region, Eygpt. These designs have often been described as wagirehs or samplers and were said to have been used as weaver`s aids, or for demonstration purposes, made as a template or pattern for the carpet design and production of larger rugs, they are generally small pieces of the size of a scatter rug or mat. Mamluk carpets originated in a physical environment that lacked the combination of abundant marginal grazing land and a temperate climate with cool winters that were common to most carpet-weaving areas in the Islamic world. While related to a broader tradition of Turkish weaving centered in Anatolia, far to the north, the designs of these carpets include atypical elements, such as stylized papyrus plants, that are deeply rooted in Egyptian tradition. Their unusual composition and layout probably represent an attempt to develop a distinctive product that could in effect establish a “Mamluk brand” in the lucrative European export market. The uncharacteristic color scheme—devoid of the undyed white pile and employing a limited range of three or five hues in much the same value—also suggests a conscious attempt to create a particular stylistic identity. Also virtually unique in the world of Islamic carpets is the S-spun wool. It has been argued that the tradition of clockwise wool spinning originated in Egypt because of the earlier Egyptian tradition of spinning flax into linen thread. Details of the plant’s botanical structure make it impossible to spin flax fiber in the more common counterclockwise direction utilized throughout the Middle East for wool and cotton. Mamluk carpets with the color combinations seen in the Simonetti are now generally accepted as part of an earlier tradition that has many links to the weaving of Anatolia, Iran, and Syria. The “three-color” Mamluk carpets, well represented in the Metropolitan’s collection, represent a later development that continued well after the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517. Many such carpets may have been produced well into the seventeenth century, and possibly even later. (Walter B. Denny in [Ekhtiar, Soucek, Canby, and Haidar 2011]). The design of the rug is interpreted by our designers from our Mamlouk-type rugs collection and soft colors are used for this rug. Color summary: 3 colors in total; Moss Green 27 (Spurge – Indigo) Mount Olive...

The most dramatic of the Gerous ( Garrus, Gerus, Garus ) carpets are those with an “asymmetric” design. Only a section of the original is shown, in the same way, many Lotto carpets w...

The most dramatic of the Gerous ( Garrus, Gerus, Garus ) carpets are those with an “asymmetric” design. Only a section of the original is shown, in the same way, many Lotto carpets w...

Whimsical Hooked rug with a pink striped cow and a little white dog, ca 1885-1910 Hooked rug with a pink striped cow, wearing a large cowbell, foll...

Turkish Court Manufactury Rugs were woven in the Egyptian workshops founded by Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. Those carpets were woven in Egypt, following the paper cartoons pro...

This is a repeat of large sweeping arabesques in muted colors adorning the red field rug designed in the early 20th century that originates from the Bidjar region in northwestern Ira...

This rug has an interpreted design composed of a palmette lattice pattern taken from a part of the Mamluk rug, filling the field elegantly. These kinds of rugs have often been descri...

This rug has an interpreted design composed of a palmette lattice pattern taken from a part of the Mamluk rug, filling the field elegantly. These kinds of rugs have often been descri...

This lattice pattern is composed of palmettes and leaves filling the various compartments against the imposing ground. One has the impression that it is only part of a larger scheme ...