This item has been added to the Database within the Explore Islamic Art Collections project. Information is available in: English, Arabic.

Name of Object:

"Lotto" Carpet with Closed Kufesque Border

Location:

Saint Louis, United States of America

Holding Museum:

Saint Louis Art Museum

About Saint Louis Art Museum, Saint Louis

Date of Object:

Hegira First half of the 10th century / AD first half 16th century

Museum Inventory Number:

101:1929

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Wool; symmetrical knot, slightly pulled to the left, approximately 40Vx36-37H per decimetre

Dimensions:

Length: 203.2cm x Width: 111.8cm

Period / Dynasty:

Ottoman period, 1281–1924

Provenance:

Central Anatolia, Turkey, Asia

Description:

A so-called "Lotto" carpet with stylized pseudo-kufic (Kufesque) inscription around the border. The red field has an allover pattern of arabesques in yellow with touches of white, blue, red, and brown. The arabesques form quatrefoiled and irregular compartments symmetrically arranged. The green border is decorated with an angular interlacing derived from kufic writing, in white with brown outlines. The guard bands have a ribbon design in red and brown on a blue ground (inner guard band) or in blue on a red ground (outer guard band).

How date and origin were established:

Scholarly review and/or comparison to similar objects from the period.

How Object was obtained:

Gift of James F. Ballard, 1929

How provenance was established:

Scholarly review and/or comparison to similar objects from the period.

Selected bibliography:

Denny, Walter and Farnham, Thomas, The Carpet and the Connoisseur: The James F. Ballard Collection of Oriental Rugs, Saint Louis: The Saint Louis Art Museum, 2016.

Citation of this web page:

 ""Lotto" Carpet with Closed Kufesque Border" in Explore Islamic Art Collections. Museum With No Frontiers, 2025.
https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;EPM;us;Mus24;28;en

MWNF Working Number: US4 28