An Early 20thC Silk Thread Koum Kapi Rug c.1920

Origin: Turkish
Period: Early 20thC 
Provenance: The George Farrow Collection
Date: c.1920
Length: 36”
Width: 26”

The beautiful fragment in silk threads, with a soft palette with madder reds, blacks, oranges and aubergines to a sand ground, the whole with a stylised floral design and surviving from the first quarter of twentieth century Turkey.

For a rug that is over a century old the piece remains in fine fettle, with a nice amount of consistent overall wear to the pile. There are no holes, tears or repairs.

Koum Kapi weavings can be traced back to the Koum Kapi (the Sand Gate) district of Istanbul, the Armenian quarter, produced by Armenian masters, such as Zareh Peniamin and Hagop Kapoudjian, in Istanbul in the early twentieth century.  These works appeared in response to a renewal of interest in 16th and 17th century rugs and various international carpet exhibitions.  The weavers mastered the art of raised work – especially for calligraphic inscription – with metallic threads and weaving with coloured silks.  These Armenian workshops in the late 19th century produced some of the most exquisite carpets of the period. Some of the patterns took inspiration from Persian silk prayer rugs and included distinctly Persian features -from bold stylised flower-heads to rumi (split palmettes).

A very attractively designed, finely drawn and well-balanced work of art.