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Ottoman Embroidery Textiles – The art of embroidery, especially that using silk as a long history in Oriental textile production reaching well back into the Islamic past into Central Asia, and ultimately to China, the source of all silk production. The early Turkish Seljuk, when they first arrived in Persia and Anatolia between the eleventh and the thirteenth centuries, must have brought the art of silk embroidery with them from their Central Asian homeland.
By the time the Osmanli or Ottoman Turks became a major power in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, antique rug weaving and silk embroidery was well established in Turkey as a luxury court production, often made within the harem of the sultan in the Topkapi Palace itself.
The silk Ottoman embroidery textiles of this early period still tended to reflect the style and taste of more easterly silk embroideries produced in Persia and Central Asia.
Yet even in this early time, the largely floral designs tended to be extremely suave and naturalistic, departing somewhat from the more abstract approach of mainstream Islamic ornament.
In the course of time, however, the naturalism of Turkish embroidery increased markedly, undoubtedly in response to Turkish exposure to European artistic styles and tastes. Between the sixteenth and the eighteenth centuries, the Ottoman Turkish Empire controlled much of Eastern Europe and the Balkans. For a good deal of this period, Turkish territory was no more than a day’s ride or sail from Venice.
So it is not surprising that Turkish embroideries and other textiles came increasingly to reflect the taste of their European competitors. The newly acquired eighteenth-century Ottoman silk embroidery in the Nazmiyal Collection beautifully exemplifies this trend. The design consists of highly naturalistic floral sprays in delicate shades of pink and red arranged in staggered rows across a soft blue silk ground.
The stems of the flowers are rendered in raised relief using metallic gold thread. At the center of the composition is a radial spray of multiple flowers, some of which are shown in open or rosette view accented with a saffron color. Collectively this radial spray functions as an approximately diamond shaped medallion at the center of the entire composition, but its effect is subtle. In the same way a subtle border is produced by continuous stems of flowers that run all around the periphery of the piece. The delicacy of the drawing and the coloration is enhanced by the luminous effects of the silk and metal used throughout the Ottoman embroidery textile.
The western European artistic influences behind such Turkish textiles are not far to seek. During the eighteenth century, the technological advances in European warfare and armament had tipped the balance of power against Ottoman Turkey, and as result Europeans began to develop an attitude of superiority toward the Islamic world, especially toward the Turks.
In consequence, Europeans were no longer attracted by exotic Islamic textiles and rugs, and began to develop their own rug and textile furnishings in naturalistic, classically derived style. This development produced the great Aubusson and Savonnerie carpets, and their imitations in Austria and Eastern Europe, as well as a host of tapestry and embroidered textiles of similar artistic inspiration. As reflex elite Turkish taste began yielding increasingly to the assertive new European sensibilities, as the Nazmiyal embroidery clearly discloses. Its soft coloration and highly naturalistic mode of depiction undoubtedly reflect the style of Aubusson tapestry and kindred European textiles.
In the course of the later eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, wealthy Turkish interiors came to follow fully the standards of European interior design and furnishings. Western influence even became discernible on a more popular, folkloric level of production during the nineteenth century.
This accounts for the highly naturalistic style of the Bessarabian Kilim or tapestry rugs of the northeast Balkan region, or the related flat weave kilims and pile area carpets in a naturalistic style produced in the Karabagh region of Armenia under Turkish rule (Antique Bessarabian Rug 41272). In this regard, the Nazmiyal embroidery represents the cutting edge in the transformation of Turkish taste a century earlier. It is in any case an eloquent testament to the exquisite standards of technique and design of Ottoman court textile production.
In the late fourteenth century, the Osmanli or “Ottoman” Turks were only one of many competing Anatolian principalities or Beyliks. In less than 50 years, however, they emerged as the pre-eminent Turkish dynasty that would rule the Eastern Mediterranean and Western Asia until the First World War.
Rug weaving under the Ottomans had a long and varied development. Initially it evolved out of the repertory of the Beylik and earlier Timurid carpets with their allover field designs and Kufic borders.
Typical Ottoman embroidery textiles and rugs of this type are the so-called “Small Pattern Holbein” and “Memling Gul” carpets (see European & Early Carpets and Oriental Rugs & Carpets). The early “Animal Carpets” were also another major Ottoman rug genre.
These utilized medallions containing one or more animals, often with trees of life, rendered in a strongly stylized or geometric style. A distinctive Ottoman offshoot of the allover medallion format was the so-called “Lotto” carpet.
The Timurid innovation of the central medallion composition also influenced the development of new versions of the Ottoman repertoire – the “Large-Pattern Holbein Type,” “Crivelli Star ” and “Ghirlandaio” carpets, and the large medallion animal carpets.
The most significant Ottoman adaptations of the large central medallion format, however, were the elegant, courtly carpets attributed to the Ushak region. The earliest of these are now dated to the late fifteenth century, when they emerged as direct adaptations of the new Timurid central medallion carpets.
Throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Oushak Rugs developed a series designs with both star-shaped quatrefoil medallions, and circular or ogival ones. These had details made up of sinuous arabesque vine scrolls and tendrils which reflected contemporary Safavid Persian designs. Ushak produced various types of prayer rug as well. In the later seventeenth century a single and double niched prayer rug type also developed.
Often attributed to the European areas of the Ottoman Empire, these “Transylvanian” rugs were probably made in Asiatic Turkey. All these various Ottoman types, which represented the output of organized urban manufactories, largely in western Anatolia, provided the foundation for a more rustic and lively genre of popular Turkish village weaving all across Turkey, which was informed by a nomadic taste ultimately reflecting the Central Asian background or origin of the Turks.
This tradition of Turkish rug weaving has survived right down into the twentieth century.
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a month ago
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.
4 years ago
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.
4 years ago
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!
a year ago
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!
4 years ago
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!
