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Ushak Medallion Carpet on White Ground

first half 17th century
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 460
Medallion Ushak carpets usually have a red or blue field decorated with a floral trellis or leaf tendrils, central medallions, and a border containing palmettes on a floral and leaf scroll, and pseudo-kufic characters. In this example (partially restored), a typical white-ground field pattern is combined with the Medallion Ushak to form a new category of Ottoman carpets. Its triple spots-and-wavy double stripe pattern, called çintamani, appears frequently in Ottoman art from the sixteenth century on tiles, paintings, book bindings, and particularly on textiles and garments. Unlike other white-ground categories, this field pattern never appears in European paintings of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Ushak Medallion Carpet on White Ground
  • Date: first half 17th century
  • Geography: Attributed to Turkey
  • Medium: Wool (warp, weft and pile); symmetrically knotted pile
  • Dimensions: Rug: L. 306 in. (777.2 cm)
    W. 153 1/4 in. (389.3 cm)
    Tube: L. 179 in. (454.7 cm)
    Diam. 11 in. (27.9 cm)
  • Classification: Textiles-Rugs
  • Credit Line: Gift of Caroline and Joseph S. Gruss, 1984
  • Object Number: 1984.69
  • Curatorial Department: Islamic Art

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'Transylvanian' Carpet, Wool (warp, weft, and pile); symmetrically knotted pile
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'Transylvanian' Carpet, Wool (warp, weft and pile); symmetrically knotted pile
'Transylvanian' Carpet
probably 17th century
'Transylvanian' Carpet, Wool (warp, weft and pile); symmetrically knotted pile
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probably 18th century
Prayer Rug with Triple Arch Design, Wool (warp, weft, and pile); symmetrically knotted pile
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Fragmentary Cenotaph Cover with Qur'anic Calligraphy, Silk; lampas
Fragmentary Cenotaph Cover with Qur'anic Calligraphy
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