Carpet
Date1650-1700
OriginAsia, Turkey, Ushak
MediumWool
Dimensions5'9" X 4'4"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1956-174
DescriptionCarpet: Ghiordes knot; about 72 knots per square inch; 2 shoots red wool wefts after each row of knots. Colors: ground; field- red, outer and inner guard bands- red, border- dark blue; pattern; white, yellow, orange, pink, red, blue, brown, green. The field has an allover pattern of angular arabesques with full and half-palmettes forming various geometrical devices. The border contains a series of Chinese cloud bands on a background of floral scrolls and rosettes. The inner guard band has a wavy floral scroll with leaves and blossoms. The outer guard band is filled with diagonal spiral bands.Label TextIntroduction Gallery:By the 1500s, the city of Uşak in western Turkey was known as a center of carpet production. Their reach was international. Uşak carpets appear in 16th century paintings from Italy, England, and the Netherlands. By the mid-18th century, the rise of credit among Virginia’s affluent planters brought luxuries like Turkish carpents to the colonies. John Wayles commented in 1766, “in 1740 I don’t remember to have seen such a thing as a turkey carpet in the country except a small thing in a bed chamber, now nothing are so common as Turkey or Wilton carpetts.”ProvenancePrior to 1956, Beshir Galleries (New York, NY); 1956-present, purchased by The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation (Williamsburg, VA)
20th century
18th c.
17th century or later
18th century, possibly
17th c. probably
Probably late 17th century
17th or 18th c.
Probably 17th century (original parts)
17th century
Unknown
Possibly 19th century
18th or 19th century