Bergama Rugs – The fine wool-on-wool Turkish rugs woven in Bergama used only the finest quality fleece. Kazak-influenced Bergama carpets are often identified by their distinctive red wefts. Their varied styles include compartmental medallions, directional prayer niches, Kuba-style Leshgi stars and Memling guls. The local carpet-weaving tradition in Bergama began before the 1300’s and continued through the 20th century.
Historically, Bergama was one of Anatolia’s wealthiest cities and an influential carpet producer. The decorative elements featured in Turkish Bergama carpets undoubtedly inspired the Old Masters. Designs found in these historic carpets are inextricably associated with European painters, including Lotto, Memling, Bellini and Holbein, whose names have come to describe these iconic designs.
Each Bergama carpet features a stunning array of traditional symbols that have a universal meaning that transcends national borders. The style, color and symbolism of these unique Turkish carpets make them popular design pieces. These colorful rugs embody years of superstition and culture that are carefully represented through the use of artistic devices. Superficially, Bergama carpets are highly decorative, but they are also made from fine materials and packed with powerful symbols that contribute tangible and intangible qualities to these sophisticated pieces. Although Bergama rugs feature tribal designs and decorative symbols that have rustic, ethnic sensibilities, they are equally suited for contemporary and classically modern interiors.
Bergama rugs (alt. Bergamo carpets) are made in the historic town of Bergama in northwest Turkey. The style of these rugs is neither Greek nor Turkish but rather resembles Kazaks and Gendje rugs of the Caucasus. The large bold geometric patterns are highly varied. The palate is typically brick red, dark blue and white although older rugs have some green and yellow. The pile is luxurious, long and silky. These antique rugs have woven bands of red, blue or red-and-blue stripe at the ends and are often square with either formal or tribal influences.
Guide to Antique Turkish Bergama Rugs
Turkish rugs occupy an unusual position in the rug world. During the later Middle Ages and the Renaissance, they were the decorative rug par excellence, dominating the market in Europe and even in Middle East itself.
As early as the late thirteenth century the famous traveler Marco Polo commented on the high esteem in which Turkish carpets were held. Throughout the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the great master painters of Europe relied upon Turkish rugs as background props that could immediately suggest the status and prestige of the various personages they depicted.
Only in the course of the later sixteenth and seventeenth centuries did Persian rugs and carpets attain the standing they now occupy as the pre-eminent or standard Oriental rug for home decor.
Nowadays with the exception of Oushak or Sivas carpets, Turkish rugs are primarily attractive to collectors who eagerly seek out scatter sized rugs produced in the villages across Asiatic Turkey.
Among such Turkish village production, a few types hold a special prominence for their exceptional color and their sense of nomadic or tribal design – the Yuruks of Eastern Turkey, the Konya and Karapinar rugs of Central Turkey, and the Melas and Bergama rugs of the western Anatolian region.
Within such production Bergama rugs have a special place because of the high quality of their weave and the purity of their design, which has remained faithful to the types documented in Renaissance painting right into the nineteenth century, if not later.
Antique Tribal Turkish Bergama Rugs
The example shown here reproduces the so-called Ghirlandaio type, so named because they were depicted by the great Italian master Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449-1494). Though very probably produced in the mid nineteenth century, this example comes extremely close to the few carpets of this type that can be dated to the fifteenth century, as well as to the examples depicted by Ghirlandaio himself.
The medallions consist of various segments or facets adapted from a classic type of Islamic architectural decoration known as “mugarnas.” The small indentations along the edges are elaborated by tiny squares with angular hooks. The medallions on this rug are an elaborated type where the muqarnas elements are expanded outward and grouped around a central square enclosing an octagon.
The stepped corner-pieces also have muqarnas fillers and more of the little hooked squares within each step. The border consisting of radial clusters of four serrated leaves is also an early type attested among the oldest extant Ottoman rugs and in Renaissance paintings.
What is so striking about Northwest Turkish village area rugs like this is their commitment to tradition as well as to superior technical standards. Eastern Anatolian or Yuruk rugs of the nineteenth century also derive from the same early traditions as Bergama pieces, but they seldom preserve the precise ornamental detail or the rich, varied palette of multiple reds, blues, greens, and yellows (690).
It is therefore not uncommon to find that northwest Turkish or Bergama pieces may be dated much too late, or, at times, too early. Coming up with precise dates for pieces within such a conservative tradition is sometimes quite difficult.
Tribal Antique Turkish Bergama Area Rugs
The term Bergama is actually a catch-all popular in the rug trade for various local antique productions from the areas around Bergama as well, whose specific identity is only now becoming better known. Many of the pieces commonly dubbed as Bergama were made in the villages of Yacgibedir, Ezine, Balekesir, or Canakkale. This last type is especially recognized by its palette and designs.
Canakkale rugs like this example of the mid nineteenth century have a distinctive rich apricot or salmon ground accompanied by liberal amounts of soft sky blue, pale celadon greens, and golden yellows, in conjunction with ivory.
The designs on Canakkale rugs derive from early Turkish carpets of the so-called “Holbein” type, so named because they appear in the paintings of the Northern Renaissance artist Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543). The octagonal medallions with edges elaborated by serial pairs of curling hooks are the “Holbein” elements of classical Turkish derivation, as are the cornerpieces with deep cruciform indentations. The border too is an ancient type attested in the earliest Turkish rug production.
But the overall design of Canakkale rugs like this one is not quite as old as the component motifs. The arrangement of the medallions in a group of four linked by bands with little hooks comes from a different classical Turkish source, the so-called Star Ushak carpets of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries which have four-lobed, star-like medallions.
The original aspect of the Canakkale design is its combination of the star Ushak scheme with Holbein medallion elements. This development is difficult to date, but it probably came about early in the eighteenth century and continued into the nineteenth.
There are even early twentieth century examples of this design, although these tend to loose the celadon and golden tones. During the nineteenth century though, Canakkale weavers evolved a simpler version of this pattern with a looser grouping of the medallions better suited to scatter size rugs. But these still continued to use elements of “Holbein” type.
The highly traditional or conservative nature of antique Bergama or Northwest Turkish rugs is particularly interesting and relevant to rug enthusiasts who appreciate the special beauty of early Turkish carpets.
Apart from fragmentary and damaged examples, actual early pieces of this type from before 1600 are exceedingly rare outside the museums specializing in historic rugs and textiles, and when they do appear on the market they command prices that even museums can no longer afford.
Bergama rugs therefore offer the realistic possibility of acquiring genuine antique Turkish pieces which have preserved virtually intact the extraordinary sense of design and color for which early Turkish rugs are so prized. As such they are a collector’s dream in a world where dreams no longer come so easily.
Twenty or so years ago my father gave me a beautiful antique Persian rug - after so many years (and kids and pets) it needed some TLC, so I brought it to Nazmiyal. I just picked it up today and - wow! They got the stains out entirely and the entire rug is brighter; they also made some repairs - it's back in my living room and looks fantastic, and the bill was lower than I'd expected. Overall it was a great experience - the people are wonderful, the work was perfect, and I saw so many beautiful rugs at their store that I found myself wishing for a larger apartment. Next time I need any work done on a rug, or find an open bit of floor I know where I'll be heading.
It is always a delight going to the Nazmiyal showroom. This Qashqai is one of several purchases made over the years, and mom is truly enjoying it. Jason and the staff are very knowledgeable and friendly. They listen to the customeru2019s needs. When I go to the showroom, it is like visiting my family because we have the same appreciation for the textile arts.nnOriental carpets are a rare discipline to be educated in, because you canu2019t go to a university to have certain types of training and experience, such as knowing the cultures and processes of carpet weaving. Jason has such a refined eye that he can distinguish a good rug from a great rug, and that knowledge is offered to the customer to elevate their point of view.nnComing here has been an initiation into a world of culture, art, and beauty which has sustained me, and for that I am grateful.
Loved my runner rug purchase from Nazmiyal. Love the ability to purchase, try and return if it didn't work out! I had it shipped to California and everything worked out beautifully!
NAZMIYAL is the best source for antique and vintage rugs and carpets. Staff is extremely knowledgeable, Jason himself is an amazing dealer who handpicks each and every piece in his stunning collection and is happy to educate the consumer, not just make a sale. I always trust his experience and great eye for all my spaces!
I had an absolutely wonderful experience working with Nazmiyal. I was very impressed by their selection, the quality of their beautiful carpets, and their extremely reasonable prices. Really I cannot say enough about how helpful everyone at the gallery was - especially Omri, work with him if you can! - and how happy I am with my new antique rug. Five stars, highly, highly recommended!
