Kütahya Yatak

203 x 196 cm (6' 8" x 6' 5")
Turkey, mid 19th century
Condition: very good, good pile, scattered professional restorations
Warp: wool, weft: wool, pile: wool

Heavy, high-pile, more or less square rugs from Anatolia are called yatak, meaning "sleeping rug." On cold nights, one sleeps comfortably on them, well insulated by the thick pile. The majority of these usually red-ground pieces show large Memling güls surrounded by small star-octagons.
On our beautifully abraded field, only the star octagons are shown, drawn almost in a circle. Their multicolored nature initially obscures the fact that they are arranged diagonally in their ground colors. This creates a very charming, orderly chaos.
There are only a few comparable pieces with the same field. One is illustrated in Hali 50, page 165, from 1990, where a "hefty price" of 11,000 USD was lamented; shortly thereafter, another appeared in Hali 52, page 177. A piece with faded colors and in poor condition can also be found in "Turkish Handwoven Carpet," Volume 3, Number 0291.
However, none of these pieces features the exceptional border with interlocking diamonds. One is tempted to call it unique, but there are simply no one-of-a-kind pieces among carpets that belong to a tradition. A fragmentary piece was sold by Rippon Boswell in Auction 93 as lot 59 for €6,150. This fragment from the Poppmeier Collection resembles ours so closely that one must assume it came from the same weaver's household.
In our well-preserved sleeping rug, the stars seem to float above the ground, while the border on the sides adds visual appeal. It is fascinating to see how, in the minor borders, the relatively simple design gives way to a disruption in the pattern, as if the weaver had lost control or interest there.

Estimate: € 20000 - 30000