Medallion Ushak
300 x 198 cm (9' 10" x 6' 6")
Turkey, 17th century
Condition: good according to age, ca. 5 cm restored at both ends, selvages incomplete, low pile, several old repairs
Published: "Teppiche der Welt", Ian Bennett, 1981, p. 111
Warp: wool, weft: wool, pile: wool

The large medallion carpets made in the workshops in and around Ushak in west Anatolia were one of the great export successes of the Ottoman empire. These carpets were prized by the noble houses of Europe and can be seen in the richly decorated interiors of wealthy merchants and nobility in paintings from the 16th century onwards. While there are many large carpets in museum collections, smaller size carpets, such as this example, are rare survivals since they used to decorate tables and desks, as can be seen in Old Master paintings. It is notable that this carpet maintains the character and design format of the larger carpets of this type. The medallion with its serrated trefoils surround in brilliant green dominates the width of the field and even touches the borders, and the authority of the original design concept, an infinite repeat pattern, is maintained through the four quartered medallions in the corners. The clarity and variety of the colours, the height of the medallion, and the full and crisp character of the border and blue vine tracery in the field mark this carpet out as an exceptionally rare and fine example of a little seen genre of 17th century classical Turkish carpets.