Antique Oushak Rug BB5198 8'10" × 9'6" $25,000

This circa-1920 antique Oushak rug is a classic example of the Turkish or Anatolian tradition and features a muted terracotta palette. The all-over design features symmetric shapes in shades of light beige against a rust colored field, with a faded patina. The main border is a simple rectangular perimeter including more of the design featured in the field. Since the sixteenth century, antique carpets and rugs have been represented among the carefully chosen and highly esteemed objects d’art in the studied interiors and still life paintings of important European personages, depicted by such artists as Holbein, Lotto, Velasquez, Memling and Vermeer. Until the eighteenth century, the demand for Turkish carpets was unabated and designs such as “medallion” and “star” Oushaks in royal tones of brick red, terracotta, deep blue and gold continued to grace European interiors. Though of a later time period, this carpet echoes the color scheme of these older Ottoman designs.