Yatak with stylised carnations
Çal area, Menderes Valley
Southwest Anatolia
circa 1830
191 x 160 cm (6’3” x 5’3”)
Alg 1244
symmetrically knotted wool pile on cotton warps and wool wefts.

From the Turkish word for ‘bed’, yatak rugs are typically woven in a squarish format with a low knot count, having loosely spun, silky long piled wool on a foundation characterised by a number of weft shoots. An example with a similar pattern of stylised carnations on a dark yellow ground but with a different border has been ascribed to Konya (j.j. Eskenazi, L’Arte del Tappeto Orientale, Milan 1983, pl. 43, p. 127). Recent studies have shown however that there is a cohesive cluster of weavings from the Menderes valley in southwest Anatolia which display a plethora of motifs that are closely connected to the iconography of 16th and 17th century Ottoman carpets such as the Small Medallion Ushaks and the so-called Transylvanians (b. Morehouse, Menderes Valley Carpets, Hali 121, London 2002, pp. 100-107). The carnation represents one of the favourite floral motifs employed in Ottoman art in general, seen here in a joyous palette that exemplifies one of the most genuine manifestations of the Anatolian village rug tradition.

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