AN UNUSUAL OTTOMAN SILK SATIN AND METAL-THREAD BROCADE PANEL (KEMHA) WITH A GREEN GROUND, TURKEY, CIRCA 1600

Sold in these rooms, 26 April 2017, lot 141.

Ex-collection Argine Benaki Salvago, Alexandria and Greece.

This unusual silk panel features a rare chartreuse green ground and the carnations are boldly represented with a long stem, including roots and stylised leaves. It offers a beautifully balanced composition in a vibrant and dynamic palette. The four flowers associated with the Ottoman court were the tulip, hyacinth, rose and the carnation, all widely used in Ottoman textile design, and notably the carnation in the present example. There is an interesting comparable kemha panel, with a repeat pattern of the simple large gold carnations and stems, but without roots and leaves, within an ogival lattice, first half seventeenth century, in the Topkapi Palace Museum (Inv. no.13/2507), see (Atasoy 2001, p.287, fig.254). It is considered to be an unusually stylised design in relation to other kemha designs of the seventeenth century, which were usually more complex, and it is thought that this design is inspired by the contemporary carnation velvets from Bursa. For example a panel with similarly pared down design, circa 1600 (163 by 128cm), Mevlana Museum Konya (Inv. no.600).