Early Bergama
147 x 125 cm (4' 10" x 4' 1")
Turkey, 18th century
Condition: good according to age, mostly good pile, both ends partially slightly damaged, several small old repairs and reweavings
Warp: wool, weft: wool, pile: wool

The wonderful colouration and incredible rare design transports us beyond the later, mostly just red and blue, carpets generally attributed to Bergama. A typical example appears in 'Antique Anatolische Teppiche aus Oesterreichischem Besitz', published by the TKF. The 'arches' depicted there can be traced back to medallions with arrow extensions, as can be seen in McMullan's 'Islamic Carpets', 1965, plate 119. Further back in pattern development in the same book on plate 80 we can see the medallions clearly. In the TKF 'Textil Kunst Feuer', on plate 20, is another example (also see HALI 167, p. 93), in which we understand where the white scrolling flowers in our example come from. These can be related to the flowers covering the ground on medallion Ushaks of the 16th/17th century. A further example which shares the colour scheme and shows a more elaborate version of the border is in Spuhler, 'Die Orientteppiche im Museum für Islamische Kunst', Berlin, 1987, p. 203.
There is no such thing as a one-off as rugs were produced as part of a tradition, and in tent, house or workshop the design will develop but not be created from scratch. Therefore there is always at least a second example. An almost identical field design with a different border was sold at Lefevre, 25 May 1984, Lot 11; see also HALI Vol 6, No. 3, p. 322.