An early 'Italianate' double-ogival brocaded velvet (kadife)
c. 1575-1600
Ottoman Turkey, Bursa
159.5 x 62 cm; Silk velvet brocaded in gilt-metal and silver metal-wrapped thread against crimson pile on a cream-coloured ground, and mounted on a modern stretcher.
A substantial length of deep-crimson velvet with nearly two full repeated double-ogival motifs in gold brocade, this silk velvet is an exemplar of the ‘Italianate’ style of Ottoman textiles woven on the prestigious looms of the velvet-weavers' guild at Bursa. The elegant double interlace of the design features a continuous, bold ogival band with an intermediary crown motif and a secondary layer of jagged saz leaves encircling a central composite floral motif. The design is a confluence of Italian and Ottoman motifs.
Published and Exhibited
J. Guiffrey and G. Migeon, La collection Kelekian: Étoffes et tapis d'Orient et de Venise, Paris 1908, pl. 80
Loan Exhibition of Persian Art from the 9th to the 18th Century, Philadelphia Museum of Art, October 1926–January 1927, [Philadelphia] 1926, cat. 458
The Dikran Kelekian Collection, Part II: Final Near Eastern Art, sale cat., New York, Parke Bernet, 16–17 December 1953, lot 404, p. 73
