Turkish Yastik, ca. 1875
3 ft. 5 in. x 1 ft. 11 in.


Provenance: The Keshishian Legacy Collection, Los Angeles, CA.

Other notes: Yastiks ? used as pillow or bolster covers ? are small Turkish rugs often displaying miniature adaptations of recognizable Anatolian designs. The form was woven across the region, with nearly every rug-producing group weaving Yastiks. Originally they were woven in pile with a kilim flatwoven backing. The whole weaving was then folded in half and sewn along the sides like a saddlebag to create the receptacle for stuffing or inserting an interior pillow. Few Yastiks have preserved this backing as it was often removed, transforming the weavings into small floor area rugs or mats. Traditionally, Yastiks were used on the divans or sofa benches of the Turkish living room, and the earliest examples were made of velvet in Ottoman court factories of the seventeenth century. The pile carpets, like this fine example, are adaptations or descendants of such velvet forerunners, whose designs were adapted with a village weaving sensibility.

One end rewoven (2 inches).
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