Carpet, Ushak Double-Niche "Transylvania"

DatePossibly 19th century

MediumWool warp, weft, and pile

DimensionsOH: 6 ' x OW: 4'

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1956-146

DescriptionThis is a small rectangular carpet with wool warps, wefts, and Ghiordes (Turkish) knots, about 100 knots per square inch with two shoots natural wool weft after each row of knots. The ground colors are: creamy white field; red spandrels; creamy white border; yellow, black, and red cartouches; red, yellow, light blue, and black star; red and black guard bands; creamy yellow inner edgings. The pattern colors are: white, creamy yellow, yellow, orange, red, light blue, dark blue, and black-brown. The carpet field has a double-arched niche, one at each end. In the apex of each niche is a stylized mosque lamp, white the rest of the field is decorated with angular floral arabesques with palmette, rosettes, birds, and leaves. In the border star-pointed rosettes alternate with octagons, the former filled with floral scrolls and arabesques, the latter with a lozenge bearing small trefoils. The inner and outer guard bands have a reciprocal pattern of trefoils.

Construction History
19th century, probably: Initial construction
1956: Lined by Beshir Galleries (New York, NY)
1984: Previous lining removed, new cotton twill lining and velcro strips added; for exhibition
Sept. 1997: Vacuumed, prior to storageLabel Text"Turkey" carpets were highly prized in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries--so much so that their owners often placed them on tables rather than on the floor. When they were used on the floor, they were protected from dirt and spills by covers of less expensive textiles. Because of their expense, very few American colonists actually owned Oriental carpets, and the floors in most people's homes were bare wood without the softening effect of the many carpets we use today.
This carpet in particular belongs to the "Transylvania church" type, named for its prevalence in Romanian churches dating back centuries. Because of its unusually "silky" pile and "pristine" condition, this carpet may be a 19th century copy of traditional "Transylvanian" designs.Inscription(s)None foundMark(s)None foundProvenancePrior to 1956, Beshir Galleries (New York, NY); 1956-present, purchased by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA)