Lot 139

CAUCASUS RUG

The hand-knotted wool rug on wool warp is a wonderful proof of the connection between the world of high art painting and eastern carpets. Authentic carpets, especially from the Ottoman Empire, appear repeatedly in Old Master paintings, and to this day some medieval Anatolian designs are named after famous masters (for example, the Italian Renaissance painter Lorenzo Lotto unwittingly lent his name to a certain composition of carpets from Western Anatolia). Also, the great Dutch painter of the Middle Ages, the Flemish Gothic master Hans Memling (c. 1430-1494), painted religious scenes in his famous paintings and still lifes with oriental carpets, which were already deservedly admired in Europe at the time. It is on the Ottoman carpets in Memling's 15th-century paintings that the mysterious hook-like motif in the octagon appears, and it is a remarkable geometric stylisation of the dragon - it appeared extensively as a positive symbol in coveted Chinese art, and dragon motifs were subsequently transmitted and copied in various cultures, including the diverse regions of the Caucasus. 
The design of the carpet in the format of a wider tread is decorated with 22 multicoloured Memling spheres (octagons with dragons, in which stars are located as a symbol of good luck, inside the star there is also a so-called magic eye, i.e. another influential symbol that is supposed to protect the owner of the carpet). The octagons are framed by triangles, which are considered to be a good luck charm that protects against bad luck and evil fate. The whole composition is charmingly surrounded by a colourful diagonal inner border, flowers, stars and a botanical zigzag, which symbolises flowing water as a symbol of life. A unique specimen that is a powerful representative of the category of antique Caucasian rugs sought after by collectors. Only natural colours from the leaves, roots and fruits of plants and trees.