An Ottoman voided silk velvet and metal-thread (çatma) panel, Bursa or Istanbul, Turkey,

with a repeating design of silver metal-thread fan shaped carnations each with seven serrated petals supported by palm leaves on a rich deep crimson silk velvet ground, with a complementary border formed by the overlaying of a stylised frame formed of two narrow open stripes at both the inner and outer edges

The Textile Gallery, London

These large çatma panels, typically with a narrow geometric inner frame and an endless repeating design which extends beneath this frame, are thought to have been used either as wall hangings, curtains or as covers for divan.   

This panel is in the 'quatre-fleurs style'  named for the four most commonly used flowers: the tulip, hyacinth, rose and the carnation, all closely associated with the Ottoman Court.  The carnation was one of the most beloved floral motifs of the Ottomans and  by the end of the 16th century it had developed into the serrated fan-shaped carnation palmette motif known as the 'fan' pattern, or yelpazeli.

Contemporaneous records show that the silk weaving ateliers of Bursa and Istanbul were carefully monitored by the Ottoman Court,  the number of looms and the usage of precious metals was strictly controlled and  workshops producing anything but the highest quality of textiles were forcibly closed down. It would follow that the designs were also closely monitored and that weavers and designers were forced to follow strict guidelines as to form and content and could, therefore, only show their creativity and inventiveness within a very narrow remit.     

With a limited number of ornaments and a restricted range of colour the Ottoman textile designers were able to achieve impressive versatility using barely perceptible changes and by constantly modifying composition and using alternative combinations of motifs.   They were able to ensure that within the considerable number of silks with offset rows of carnations that are extant, there are very few identical examples.  Carnations have five, seven or even nine petals, they may have variations of floral sprays within each petal or none; the root, leaf and secondary palmette motifs have minute permutations and subtle changes. Although crimson velvet is the dominant color, green, blue, ivory and yellow detailing can be used along with endless variations within the placement and usage of gilt and silver metal thread.      

Related velvets with variations on the current lot include: a single panel velvet without a border in the Textile Museum, Washington D,C., Inv. No. 1.52.1951, see: Mackie, Louise W., The Splendour of Turkish Weaving, (ex. cat.), The Textile Museum, Washington, D.C., 1973, pp. 26 and 57, no. 15. A single left hand side çatma panel with similar  carnations, border treatment and palm leaves  in the Victoria and Albert Museum Collection, London, Inv. No. 535-1884, see: Gürsu, Nevber, The Art of Turkish Weaving, Istanbul, 1988, p. 140, no. 167 and front cover.  A seven petal carnation design velvet and metal-thread cushion cover (minder) with lappet ends and no supporting secondary motifs was last sold in these rooms, 17 October 1997, lot 225, see: Herrmann, Eberhart, Asiatische Teppich-und Textilkunst, Band 4, Munich, 1992, p. 30, pl. 10 and is now in the Collection of the Museum of Islamic Art, Qatar, see: Thompson, Jon, Silk, 13th to 18th centuries, London, 2004, pp. 34-5, no. 6.  Two other fragments with similar fan-shaped carnations with five petals rather than seven are illustrated in Erber, Christian, (ed.), A Wealth of Silk and Velvet, Ottoman Fabrics and Embroideries, Bremmen, 1983, pp. 178-181, nos. G 10/1 and G 10/2 and a single right hand side divan cover panel from the Muncaster Castle Collection was sold in these rooms 18th October 1995, lot 9.  For a Russian Orthodox cope (phelonion) formed from a loom width with staggered rows of carnations in the Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Inv. No. T-347 and a panel with three-coloured silk velvet pile in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, Inv. no. T.154-1949, see: Raby, Julian and Effeny, Alison (eds.), Ipek, The Crescent and the Rose, Imperial Ottoman Silks and Velvets, Istanbul, 2001, nos. 102 and 103.  The closest parallels are two 2-loom width panels of similar format to this one, both in the Calouste Gulbenkian Collection, Lisbon, Inv. Nos. 1384, and 1425, see: Un jardin encantado, Arte islámico en la Colección Calouste Gulbenkian, (ex. cat.), 2001,  pp. 144-5, no. 57 and Islamic Art in the Calouste Gulbenkian Collection, (ex. cat.) Lisbon, 2004, p. 115, no. 49.

The sophisticated simplicity and elegance of this magnificent and unique çatma panel exemplifies the highest standard of Ottoman textile production of the late 16th and 17th centuries.