Rugs of the Week

Donegal  vs. Oushak

Donegal rug #18754 size 11’6″x10’4″

Oushaks rug#19239 size 15’0″x12’10”

Clash of the Carpets

Battle of the bands? How about a combat of the carpets? Who is original and who is derivative? Who copied whom and who inspired whom? Which came first? We date the Turkish Oushak 19239  as c. 1880 or somewhat later, while the Irish Donegal 18754  was woven right around 1900. Oushaks employing selected Persian design motives were essentially introduced by the predecessors of Oriental Carpet Manufacturers (OCM) when they took over the production of export oriented workshops, certainly in the late 19^th century. Irish production seems to have begun around 1898, Oushaks were certainly available as prototypes. Oushak carpets, actually woven mostly in Smyrna on the west coast of Turkey, were simplified in design, stripped of extraneous ornament, to facilitate quicker, cheaper production. Wool in both Ireland and Ottoman Turkey was abundant and labor was cheap.  Coarse carpets were easy to design, easy to weave and could be priced reasonably.

The design vocabulary certainly overlaps: bold palmettes, flowering racemes in field and border, angular arabesque segments. If anything, the Donegal carpet is graphically stronger than its Turkish compere. Both the designers of each have eliminated extraneous ornament and enlarged what they retained. Less was certainly more. The Donegal  carpet employs chunky Persian booths on the arabesques while the Oushak borrows equally Iranian weeping willows.  The palette of the Donegal is wider, with ochre, grass green, dark blue and ivory, while the Oushak hits hard with a striking gold border. Interestingly, the outer flame-like narrow border has been cleverly adopted and adapted from the peripheries of the medallions on 17^th century Oushak carpets made for export to Europe.

Could the places of origin be reversed? Red dominates in both carpets, a warm and expansive red.

So, which rug is better? Put them in adjacent rooms. Their folly, directly appealing styles easily mesh. Both types borrow and the only question is whether you prefer one borrowing to another. Both work with modern furniture, especially those pieces where the wood itself is given prominence , a George  Nakashima table, perhaps.

#17517 Turkish Oushak: Circa 1890

Rug #: 17517

Type:  Oushak

Origin: central Anatolia – Turkey

Size: 15’6” X 31’6” (475 X 965 cm)

Circa: 1890s

Foundation: hand spun Z twist wool

Pile: hand spun wool

Main Colors: soft blue-green, gold, green, soft pink, ivory

The present carpet is a fine example of the desirable decorative style of Turkish Oushak carpets from the late 19^th century.

The large size of this carpet alone is quite unusual considering its age.  Many larger sized Oushaks were woven later, around 1910-1920.  This is the largest antique Turkish Oushak that we have acquired at Rahmanan to date.

The combinations of the subtly rich blue-green and gold colors in the piece indicate a palette that was chosen for an export market such as Europe or America.  The overall large scale pattern of the rug makes it work decoratively in more modern settings, even today.

Many of the early 20^th century Oushaks of this size were made with a crab design.  Our piece has a more sophisticated design and weave to it, with a quality and elements similar to that of a Ziegler Sultanabad.

The informal nature of the pattern, paired with the vibrant colors chosen provides a timeless beauty that will continue to find a place in many design styles.

to view this rug on our website, please use the following link:

http://rahmanan.com/inventory/show/17517/

Turkish Delights | Article from International View (spring 2011)

This article has been taken from International View (Spring 2011 edition), and can be found on pages 18-19.

The name Ushak (or Oushak) is derived from a town, Usak, situated in the middle of the carpet weaving districts of the western Anatolian uplands.  The area has been a centre of carpet making since the 15^th century.  Bu the 16^th and 17^th centuries Ushak carpets, with their distinctive star and medallion features, were being exported in large numbers, carried by the Venetians and other seafaring traders from the port of Smyrna, to the European markets.  Earlier types are often referred to as “Lottos” and “Holbeins”, in reference to their depiction by the artists Lorenzo Lotto and Hans Holbein the Younger as a way of introducing colour and status to a scene.

Many of the carpets that made their way to Europe during this period can still be found in reasonable numbers.  However, after the 17^th century the market waned and carpet production in the Usak area went into decline.  Then in the late 19^th century demand returned, with a European fashion for all things “Orientalist”.  This time the market was much larger than previously, with a burgeoning wealthy middle class and new American buyers on the scene.

The export business led to a boom in production to keep up with the fresh demand the skilled workers of Usak turned to the traditional weavers of surrounding villages and towns for support.  Pieces for this period of production are distinctive in their more tribal style, which saw the use of larger knots and longer pile on an all wool foundation together with the fusion of older Ushak designs simplified Persian style floral patterns.  The typical colours employed at this time were red, blue and green, although among the more prized today are those woven in softer pastel colours.  Ushak carpets had often been large, but now they were woven to fit European and American room dimensions.

(*to view a similar rug to the one seen in this article (above), please use the following link to Rahmanan’s website: http://www.rahmanan.com/inventory/show/40-1164/)

Highly prized over their 500 year history, from the palaces of Venice to the new wealth of the great American cities, Ushak carpets still prove popular today.  Their pleasing colours, bold patterns, and good proportions continue to find favour with today’s home furnishers.

*images and text for this post have been taken from International View (Spring 2011 edition).  No credit taken by Rahmanan Antique & Decorative Rugs.

A Weft Of Different Color

Recently, a client brought up the different colors found in the wefts of Oushak carpets. He noted that some seemed to have red wefts, while others remained un-dyed. He wondered weather or not this was a telling factor on age.

Many different colors of wool have been used as wefts in the weaving of antique rugs. The reason for this is that there was a time when nothing went to waste. After weaving a rug, there was often leftover wool, which may not have been enough to weave a new rug. These extras were then used as the base to start that new rug. While we may not do this today for the sake of regularity in product production, in the past people used what they had. This may be one of the many minor nuances that give your antique rug the character that you love.