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Mahal
| Mahal The production of Mahal carpets only began in the Arak region in the later nineteenth century. They are characterized by a large-scale curvilinear vinescroll based upon classical Persian forerunners, but rendered in a somewhat more stylized, geometric and robust drawing, somewhat like Herizes. The finest grade Mahals have come to be known in the rug trade as Sultanabads.
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Makri
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Makri The antique rugs of Makri in Southwestern Turkey are distinguished by their elongated hexagonal niche-like field, often rendered in pairs or double columns, and by their brilliant palette of reds blues, yellows, and ivory.
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Malayer
| Malayer Rugs from the Malayer region stand between those made in nearby Senneh and Hamadan. They were produced in a range of medallion and allover designs which, although they come from classical Persian sources, tend to be somewhat abstract or geometricized in their rendering. Malayer carpet designs can utilize small-scale and fine forms like the Herati pattern, but they also make clever use of open, empty space.
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Mamluk
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Mamluk The Mamluk Dynasty, originally “slave-soldiers” of Turkic descent, came to power in Egypt in the mid thirteenth century. By the fifteenth century they had established a thriving carpet industry in their capital, Cairo. The designs of mamluk carpets are quite complex, consisting of large medallions made up of intersecting compartments of various forms adapted from the great tradition of Islamic geometric ornament.
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Medallion
| Medallion A type of design that focuses on a central motif or medallion or a series of these arranged concentrically. Often the medallion will be complemented by four quarter medallions or cornerpieces at the four corners of the field.
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Melas
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Melas Antique Melas rugs from southwestern Turkey are famed particularly for their classic red- ground prayer rugs with simple niches or mihrabs, Melas weavers also produced long rugs with geometric patterns. The Melas repertoire is mostly floral, although it is often so abstracted that this aspect is no longer immediately apparent.
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Memling Gul
| Memling Gul A stepped medallion with hooked embellishments usually arranged as an allover repeat design. Memling guls are well known in Turkish carpets from an early period, but they became establish in Moghan carpets of the Caucasus as well. They are named for the Northern Renaissance painter Hans Memling, in whose paintings such carpets appear.
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Millefleurs
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Millefleurs Millefleurs tapestries of Kashmir in Northern India are among the finest virtuoso textiles produced in the Orient. Modeled on designs from the Millefleurs or "thousand flower" Pashmina wool rugs of the Mogul period, these textiles utilize a dazzling array of small floral forms delicately detailed in almost microscopic form.
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Mohtashem
| Mohtashem A term used to distinguish the earliest and finest of the late nineteenth century Persian carpets produced in Kashan. It is named for the firm or family who initiated this production. The only two carpets inscribed with the name are silk.
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Mongolian
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Mongolian Mongolian carpets have a transparent composition utilizing see-through motifs against a uniform ground, in keeping with Chinese rug design. The motifs themselves are generally Chinese - meanders, knotwork, and fretted medallions - with an taste for open spaces. Colors are soft and earthy with emphasis on subtle mixing of tones or variegation.
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Mordant
| Mordant A technical term for the chemical additives that fix dyes or render them fast when exposed to water or light. Mordants tend to be made of metallic oxides of varying type. Different mordants may be applied to the same vegetable or insect dues to achieve different shade of color.
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Moroccan
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Moroccan Moroccan rugs are notable for their dynamic colorful designs and strong geometric structure. None are datable to before the mid nineteenth century, when their production began as an adaptation of central and western Turkish rugs, whose repertoire Moroccan rugs followed closely.
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Mugal
| Mugal A dynasty of Central Asian Turkic origin that came to power in India in 1526. Carpet weaving flourished under the Mugals from the late sixteenth to early eighteenth centuries. The so-called Indo-Isfahan types relate closely to contemporary Safavid Persian rug production, while those produced in Agra or farther south in the Deccan, have a distinctive Indian style, with highly naturalistic, almost tropical plants and flowers and a rich palette of deep reds, greens, and yellows.
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