A Smyrna carpet, West Anatolia

The present lot has the typical Smyrna design of overall bold polychrome palmettes supported by lanceolate leaves and framed by a floral cartouche border. These carpets are believed to have been made in the 17th and 18th centuries exclusively for the European export market and they derive their name from the West Anatolian port of Smyrna (Izmir) from which they were shipped.

Smyrna carpets usually have a camel or beige field colour. The overall colour palette of warm hues is similar to those in Ottoman court carpets of the 16th and 17th centuries, see for example an Ottoman carpet fragment, Istanbul or Bursa, dated to the fourth quarter of 16th century in the MAK collection, Volker, A., Die Orientalischen Knupfteppiche im MAK, Vienna, 2001, p.59, pl.7. The indigo field colour of the current lot is, however, more unusual and is only encountered in a few examples, see Levi, A., Antica Arte Tessile, Vol 3, Milan, 2002, pl.1, for his comments and another rug with an indigo field. In its design of overall palmettes and lanceolate leaves, also reminiscent of earlier Ottoman carpets, one can also appreciate the influence of contemporary Turkish 17th century textiles, see for example a boçha illustrated in King, D., Imperial Ottoman Textiles, London, 1980, pl.28., which shows very close design parallels in the use of bold palmettes and the lack of a centralised medallion, or other motif, which one more often encounters in Ottoman court carpets. Another unusual feature in the field design of the present lot are two rows of a quatrefoil flowers which have much in common with design elements in Star-Ushak carpets see, Batari, F., Ottoman Turkish Carpets, Budapest, 1994, p.132, pl.42 and also Holbein rugs, see Batari op.cit, p.100, pl.6. For another Smyrna of indigo field depicting quatrefoil flowers see Sotheby's London, 12th March 1999, lot 1530. The border borrowed from 'Transylvanian' prayer rugs, is typical for this type.

In the elegant overall design of the present lot and restrained colour palette one can see what would have made these carpets so popular in the West, particularly as Turkish textiles were such successful exports, see Gervers, V., The Influence of Ottoman Turkish Textiles and Costume in Eastern Europe-with particular reference to Hungary, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, 1982. For other related examples see Christie's London, Davide Halevim: Magnificent Carpets and Tapestries, 14th February 2001, lots 52 and 53; Boralevi, A., Geometrie d'Oriente: Stefano Bardini e il Tappeto Antico, Florence, p.87, pl.27ff.