Lot 154

RUNNER MELAS

An interesting carpet with a geometrized prayer design, where a brown mihrab (here a charmingly angular stylization of a prayer niche in a mosque) grows out of a stark but quite obvious tree of life, on top of which ram's horns are mounted and from whose slender trunk grow tiny hyacinth flowers, one of the classic motifs of Ottoman iconography not only in textile art. Alongside the hyacinths are opposing roses, resembling arrows, while the central field is surrounded by an attractively decorated band with variously coloured stripes, followed by a band of carnations, between which winds a zigzag, symbolising flowing water, and therefore life itself. In the upper part of the brown niche is a star, a symbol of good luck and longevity, and it is also worth mentioning the four beige diamond-shaped motifs, called 'pitrak' in Turkish, which symbolise the thistle, which is taken as a lucky amulet. The large rhombus in the centre of the niche, divided into four segments, is an unusually striking 'magic eye', an important protective element to ward off evil and protect the owner.