Christie's London, May 3, 2001, lot 118

Scholars generally date the original development of the Oushak ‘Medallion’ carpets to the second half of the fifteenth century, based on the close affinities between motifs found in extant Oushak carpets and the design of works of art in other media, such as ceramics, metalwork and bookbinding. By the 16th century there was a lively export trade in Turkish carpets; ‘Turkey’ rugs and carpets were sought after in the West, and their appearance in European paintings has helped inform scholarship on dating and the various designs produced. Oushak ‘Medallion’ carpets are well documented through their appearance in Western paintings from as early as the 1570 through to the second half of the 1🎶7th century, and occasionally appearing in the 18th century, confirmation of their enduring popularity in the West. ‘Turkey’ rugs and carpets also appear in 16th and 17t🎃h century inventories, such as those of Bess of Hardwick; several Oushak carpets are still in situ at Hardwick Hall. An example in painting is ‘The Visit to the Nursery’ by Gabriël Metsu (Dutch, Leiden 1629–1667 Amsterdam), of 1661, MMA, Acc. No. 17.190.20. Highly prized, they were initially normally employed as table carpets, and as tastes changed in the 17th and 18th centuries, became popular as floor coverings. The design of an endless repeat of large ovoid medallions interspersed with multi-petalled arabesque medallions could be successfully scaled to create very large carpets; the present lot has been reduced at some point during its history but was once certainly even larger.