Ushak’s from the 16th century are more often in museums on display. In the 17th century Oushaks have been made in high quantities for the Christian churches, and court dynasties of Europe and this continued into the 18th and 19th century. Oushak rugs were used by great artists in their paintings and by this contributed to their history, value and demand. The Arabasque design in yellow on a red ground were named after painters like Hans Holbein and Lorenzo Lotto. We see rare Lotto rugs and fragments reach very high prices at auctions these days.
Undoubtedly commissioned for the Western market these huge carpets often found there way to the US or Europe for large homes. We have been placing enormous rare antique carpets of this magnitude in beautiful private homes since the 1990’s and they can truly transform and make a room. Like famous antique Ziegler carpets, these large Ushak carpets have highly decorative designs, and fabulous natural dyes, sought after by the best interior designers all over the world.
Ushaks were woven in Western Anatolia which was one of the largest rug production areas since the Ottoman Empire. Their designs tend to be more open than Persian rugs and soft dyes are not uncommon. Often younger Ushaks or Oushaks will be rich red in colour and use bolder geometric designs. An Ushaks construction is always quite coarse and never fine like a Persian carpet, this is partly what makes them so interesting. They are extremely popular with the best interior designers in the UK and overseas.
