Prayer rug
Stockholm, Sweden
Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities (Medelhavsmuseet)
About Museum of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Antiquities (Medelhavsmuseet), Stockholm
Hegira 12th century / AD 18th century
MMI 1984.002
Wool; knotted.
Height 157 cm, width 113 cm
Ottoman
Anatolia (Ghiordes district), Turkey.
This rug belongs to the group of prayer rugs from Ghiordes, a village between Izmir and Ushak, where most of the Anatolian prayer rugs were manufactured in the AH 12th–13th / AD 18th–19th centuries. It shows in the central field a pointed niche with a half-niche on each side on a cream background. The motif of the three-arched niche derives from rug patterns of Ottoman courtly manufacturing during the AH 10th–11th / AD 16th–17th centuries. In contrast to these original designs, the columns of this rug are based on stylised carnations. Edged with trefoiled blossoms they support the main niche and separate it from the half-niches. The spandrels are filled with stylised carnations on a dark-blue background. A large bouquet of flowers hangs in the apex, reaching nearly to the bottom where a row of carnations is presented. The panel above the spandrels is filled with rosette blossoms and ornaments.
The border is formed by two horizontal and two vertical stripes showing an endless pattern of stylised plants on a dark blue background. The wavy motif of a flower scroll alternately coloured in blue, red and tan is repeated on the inner and outer guard bands.
Prayer rug, probably from Ghiordes. In the central field the rug shows a pointed niche with a half-niche on each side. Stylised carnations and bouquets of flowers are the most important motifs of this rug. The central field is framed with a border.
A very similar rug is dated to the 12th / 18th century.
Acquired from the carpet dealer P. Willborg, Stockholm, in 1984. The rug belonged to the collection of R. Christensen, Stockholm.
Rugs showing similar designs and colour schemes are usually ascribed to the Ghiordes group.
Dimand, M. S., Oriental Rugs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1973.
Sterner, M., Orientens Mattor, Stockholm, 1959, 204.
Friederike Voigt "Prayer rug" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;ISL;se;Mus01;4;en
MWNF Working Number: SE 55
RELATED CONTENT
Islamic Dynasties / Period
On display in
Discover Islamic Art Exhibition(s)
Pilgrimage | The Haram at Mecca and the Ka’ba Echoes of Paradise: the Garden and Flora in Islamic Art | Visions of the Heavenly Garden and the Tree-of-LifeDownload
As PDF (including images) As Word (text only)