Mamluk Prayer Rug

The Mamluk sultans who ruled Egypt between 1250 and 1517 had a flourishing rug manufacture in Cairo that also produced pieces for export to Italy. This prayer rug, which Wilhelm von Bode may have acquired in Italy in 1888, was probably made in Cairo around 1500. In the centre is a longish rectangular field edged in white with an arched mihrab. Beneath this, on the dark red field, is an octagon representing a basin, above which, against a bush with umbrella leaves, is an ewer. This ewer can be understood as the vessel used for the ritual ablutions of the believer, but in association with the plant motif it is also a symbol of eternal life in paradise. The scalloped arch of the mihrab creates two spandrels, which are filled with Mamluk octagons. The rectangular field above these has a red ground filled with cypresses and palms. This central field is surrounded by two borders, the inner one of which has yellow cloud bands against a red ground and the outer a continuous interlace band with plants. The cypresses and palms are typical of these Mamluk prayer rugs, as is the umbrella-leafed bush, which grows only in Egypt. The octagons and interwoven decoration generally predominant in Mamluk rugs here play a somewhat subordinate role. The light blue, light green and dark red of the glossy wool pile interact to mysterious effect.