Description
This is a wonderful faded antique Ushak carpet from the late 19th century with a gentle palette, ancient motifs and a very subtle design with the best muted colours. The light pinkish tone background sits beautifully with the off white tones surrounding the centre, and faded greens and hints of gold too. The design is delicate vines, leaves and the floating cloud-band motif or often known as the ribbon design can be seen in two places down the centre of the carpet in a pale greenish to grey tones.
This ancient ribbon design has been used on Chinese and Persian rugs for centuries as well as Turkish pieces. Woven in the late 19th Century in Anatolia, western Turkey, these exquisite hand-woven carpets have been produced since the start of the Ottoman period (1300-1922). The mid to late 19th century examples such as this became more open and decorative in design and were commissioned more for the Western market in the US and Europe and have since rivalled the look of the famous Ziegler carpets from Persia.
The colour and look of Ushak carpets with muted dyes and softer designs really appeal to todays room schemes too. Easy to place in a room already decorated or to scheme with, fabrics can be chosen to work with a palette as subtle and beautiful as this 140 year old Ushak carpet.
If you would like to request a home visit to see this beautiful and rare pale antique Ushak carpet at home, it would be our pleasure to help you soon. We love to travel nationwide, having visited private customers and interior designers all over the UK for the last 30 years.
Ushak rugs and carpets were woven in the Anatolian highlands south of Istanbul. Younger Ushak rugs from the early 20th century (or sometimes spelt Oushak) will be rich red in colour and use bolder geometric designs, often woven using chemical dyes too, they can be quite harsh on the eye and they often appear in country house auctions. The early Ushak carpets, such as this carpet were woven using muted natural dyes and have faded over the last 140 plus years to reveal an ancient and gentle look.
