Rug with Interlaced Rosettes

The glowing orange field of this rug is filled by six staggered horizontal rows of red rosettes in the form of interlaced knots. At the centre of these are eight-pointed stars on alternating red, blue and green grounds. Unlike other carpets, the field here only superficially appears to offer a section of continuous pattern. Only at the upper edge does the border just cut off the next row of rosettes. At the sides are half-rosettes, while at the bottom edge can be seen short horizontal lines, less conspicuously present also at the upper edge, an unusual way of ending the pattern. These features do not do a great deal for its legibility, and other small details suggest an individual weaver working alone rather than a manufacturing process regulated down to the smallest detail. Similarities to the 'Holbein carpets' in the colour and the interlaced rosette motif suggest an western Turkish origin. An unusual quality in the colours, which already catch the eye in the field, is also evident in the narrow border, where the motif, a stylized blossom with flanking half-palmettes, alternating in orientation and varying in colour against the brilliant white ground, offers a powerful contrast and a decisive frame. It was probably these unusual optical qualities that attracted Wilhelm von Bode to this carpet, which he acquired in 1888, presumably in Italy, and later donated to the Kunstgewerbemuseum in Berlin.