A 'Transylvanian' double-nische rug West Anatolian, 18th century, c. 190 x 130 cm.
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Red ground with an almost covering medallion featuring a lattice and rosette pattern in red, light blue, beige, yellow, olive green, and dark brown. The corners with rosettes and leaves. Wide red main border with cartouches containing flowers.
Literature
Compare Schmutzler, Emil, Oriental Carpets in Transylvania, Hiersemann, Leipzig, 1933, pl 33
More information
After a peace treaty in 1483 between Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire and Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, Hungarian and Transylvanian merchants were able to travel through the Ottoman Empire and trade in carpets, hence the name 'Transylvanian'. When they returned home, these often ended up in churches where they have been preserved ever since. Further insight is provided by the visual arts, for example in Thomas de Keyser's 'Portrait of a Man', from 1626, in the collections of the Louvre, where one can clearly see a Transylvanian carpet draped over a table.
The inspiration for the auction's rugs comes from 16th-century Ottoman Cairene prayer rugs. In the Black Church (Biserica Neagră) in Brașov, Transylvania, Romania, there is a carpet with a double niche that closely resembles the auctions example.