Karapinar Fragment

310 x 121 cm (10' 2" x 4')
Turkey, 18th century
Condition: fragment, sewn onto fabric
Warp: wool, weft: wool, pile: wool

Wow, what a burst of color - a bold choice by the weaver! Yet the colors harmonize perfectly. In addition to the three rich primary colors, there's also aubergine and six tiny dots of pink. The deep green is especially charming. Anatolian dyeing art at its finest.
The pattern is familiar from other Karapinar carpets, but here, too, the weaver has taken some liberties. The closest match in terms of design is probably a piece from the Ayan-Gülgönen Collection, published in 17th-19th "Yüzyil Konya Kapadokya Halilari", Istanbul 1997, p. 81. It has only two medallions and features the same border. Formally, it is quite similar to our carpet, but its color scheme is entirely different.
A comparable piece, albeit one with a less daring color scheme, was exhibited by Thomas Murray at the ACOR in Boston in 2006; see HALI 146, p. 118.
The evolution of the pattern can be traced very clearly in a 17th-century carpet in the Vakiflar Museum; see Ertug, "Turkish Carpets," 1996, plate 100; also published in Balpinar/Hirsch, "Teppiche," 1988, plate 29, as well as in "Turkish Handwoven Carpets," 5/0554. There, the four-pass medallion also rests on a blue ground, and the characteristic pendants are already present. Although the carpet has only one central medallion, the inspiration for the green side motifs of our piece can be recognized in the corner designs. However, the green hooks appear there in an inverted form.
A nicely arranged variation of the pattern can be found in Kirchheim, "Orient Stars," 1993, p. 254.
And please also compare it to the other Karapinar in our auction.

Estimate: € 7000 - 10000