Posts Tagged ‘geometric designs’

Antique Turkish Carpets before 1700

The practice of weaving carpets may have been brought to Anatolia by the Seljuks, a Turkic people from Central Asia who ruled Anatolia from 1077 to 1307. Eight fragmented 13th-century Seljuk carpets were found in the Aladdin Mosque, Konya, in 1905. Some are enormous (6m/nearly 20ft long), several are decorated with geometric floral designs based on Chinese silk brocades, and all have wide borders of stylized Kufic script. These carpets are now in the Turkish and Islamic Museum in Istanbul. Of extraordinary graphic power and grandeur, they reflect a highly developed and sophisticated awareness of weaving as an art form.
THE OTTOMANS
The Ottomans, also originally Turks from Central Asia, established themselves in Turkey in the late 13th century. They took Constantinople (now Istanbul) in 1453 and ruled until 1922. At the height of its power the Ottoman Empire extended from Egypt to Hungary.
Most surviving court weavings date from the 16th and 17th centuries. Early carpets show the geometric gul medallion) patterns that derive from the Central Asian tradition. The “Memling” gul (named after the 1 5th German painter Hans Memling, who depicted similar carpets in his work) consists of an octagon enclosing a stepped hooked medallion. Other carpets use the “Holbein” pattern (named after Hans Holbein the Younger), typically comprising rows of octagonal medallions framed by arabesques, interspersed with smaller lozenges. The distinctive “Lotto” design (after Lorenzo Lotto) is a development of the Chinese brocade designs of the Seljuk carpets; it features stylized yellow fines, leaves, and palmettes on a red ground.
Cairo, colonized by the Ottomans in 1517, had under the previous Mamluk rule (1250-1517) created carpets with dense, all-over geometric designs, usually in green, crimson, and white with a little yellow. Weavers from Cairo may have initially been responsible for the group of finely woven mid-16th-century rugs and carpets that show the development of the true Ottoman court style and are very different from the earlier geometric designs. Motifs include the cintamani (three balls above a pair of wavy lines), which became one of the most popular devices in Ottoman art (found in tiles, textiles, carpets, and metalwork). Other decoration includes cloudbands and lotus palmettes (from Chinese art), large leaves, and the four favourite Ottoman flowers: carnations, tulips, hyacinths, and roses. Many of these motifs appear stylized in 18th- and 19th-century Turkish village rugs.
A “Star” carpet made in Ushak
The star shape of the main medallion originated in China and is also found in 15th- and 16th-century Persian carpets. The repeat pattern, with its incomplete outer medallions, was intended to suggest infinity. (c.1550-1600; I. 1.8m/5ft 11 in; value Q)
In the late 16th and 17th centuries other designs were developed, including the large “medallion” and “star” carpets of Ushak in western Anatolia. Both these types show an endless repeating design cut by borders. The medallion layout, first used in bindings of the Koran, may have been borrowed from the contemporary Persian carpets of Tabriz (Tabriz artists were employed by the Ottoman court). The ground of the medallion carpets, which is of red vines and palmettes on blue, or vice versa, again recalls Chinese textiles. Other motifs are Persian-influenced, taking the form of sprays of flowers and arabesque scrolls. There are a number of border designs, many used interchangeably on the various carpets, including Kufic, cloudbands, palmettes with flower sprays, and floral cartouches. Turkish carpets were highly prized in the West. Many Tudor (1485-1603) portraits depict their subjects standing proudly on their Turkish carpets. European carpets are knotted with the Turkish, or symmetrical, knot in imitation of these early imports. Most Turkish and many Caucasian rugs of the 18th and 19th centuries have designs developed from the Ottoman production of the 15th-17th centuries.
T “Transylvanian” rug made in Ushak
Large quantities of these Turkish rugs were exported to Europe. In Transylvania many were used to decorate Protestant churches in the 17th and 18th centuries -hence their name. This example features stylized mosque lamps.

Antique Turkish Carpets after 1700

The Ottoman tradition of weaving established between the 15th and 17th centuries formed the inspiration for rug production in Turkey in the 19th century. What emerged was the creation of far more commercial rugs and carpets to appeal to a wider, Western audience — products that were still traditional in approach, but more accessible. This commercialization affected both village rug production and town and city workshop production, with designs evolving or being adapted from the earlier classic traditions.
VILLAGE AND NOMADIC PRODUCTION
Rugs woven in villages throughout Turkey share similar design formats, construction, and traditional influences with their Persian and Caucasian neighbours to the East and North, and with those from Central Asia further
East. Village products incorporate essentially geometric design elements, woven on woollen warps and wefts, and made with the Turkish knot. Inspiration is drawn from earlier classic renditions; the guls (medallions) used are frequently similar to guls seen in Turkoman carpets from Central Asia, while the influence of the early “Holbein” rugs is often evident in the shape of the medallions. Designs that were popular in the 18th and 19th centuries are reproduced today in similar formats and contemporary shades, although as is typical throughout the industry, products made after c.1900 lack the individuality and vibrancy of the earlier pieces.
Very little of the Turkish rug production is actually nomadic; most is cooperative and village-based. The Yuruk and the Kurds are two nomadic peoples who weave on their migrations. Rugs from these two groups share similarities with Caucasian Kazak and Karabagh rugs, with their bold, geometric patterns and strong palette. The pile is usually even deeper than in the Caucasian carpets. One of the major differences between the Caucasian and the Turkish village and nomad rugs is the lack of zoomorphic and human forms in the Turkish pieces: the design elements are almost exclusively floral-based.
TOWN PRODUCTION
Like Persian town production, Turkish town rugs and carpets have formal curvilinear designs, and in some centres are woven from cartoons (scale drawings); most production is on cotton or sometimes silk foundations, although town rugs and carpets in Turkey are also woven on woollen foundations. In western Turkey the town of Ghiordes (the name used to describe the Turkish, or symmetrical, knot) was a main weaving centre from the 17th to the early 20th century. Although on a wool foundation, the pile of Turkish town rugs and carpets is finely woven on red- or pink-dyed warps, and a cotton weft is used. Rugs from Ghiordes are often of prayer-rug form; others recall earlier design traditions. Zigzags, hexagonal medallions, and stylized floral motifs are typical. This type of rug design was popular in the 19th century.
Prayer-rugs are widespread in Turkish rug production. Ladik in central Anatolia is famous for those made in the 18th and early 19th centuries, depicting a plain mihrab (prayer niche) supported by a detailed border, presenting a striking image. These rugs also demonstrate the use of design elements adapted from older rugs. The town of Konya, close to Ladik, is also a centre for the production of prayer-rugs. Alternative prayer-rug formats included the use of a double mihrab — again a feature associated with similar rug production from the classic era. Konya produces bold geometric-design rugs very similar in character and colour to Kazak rugs from the Caucasus. Both Ladik and Konya rugs are highly sought after by collectors, due to their powerful and distinctive images.
MASTERPIECES OF TURKISH WEAVING
The town of Hereke, east of Istanbul, is famous for its extremely fine silk rugs with refined, elegant decoration. The finest silk rugs in the world are made there today. At the same time that Hereke started its production (late 19th century), workshops were established in Kum Kapi, the Armenian quarter of Istanbul. Exceptional, finely woven silk rugs were made there by Turkish Armenians who came from the weaving centres of Kayseri and Sivas; technically advanced in the art of rug-weaving, they produced rugs of a quality that had not been seen since the 17th century. They drew their inspiration from the Ottoman court style and the classic 16th-century Persian rugs of the Safavid period (1501-1732). Many of the products from these workshops are signed by the master weavers, with names that are now legendary: Zareh Penyamian, Hagop Kapoudjian, and the Tossounian family. These exquisite masterpieces are highly regarded and command high prices.
WESTERN INFLUENCE
In the late 19th century Western demand for decorative large-scale carpets increased, affecting both Persia and Turkey. Turkish carpet production during the 1890s responded to the new market, and Ushak in western Anatolia produced large, coarsely woven, decorative carpets for the European and American markets. These were often made to order by stores such as Liberty & Co. (est. 1875) in London, and carpets may still be found bearing their labels. Loosely woven on woollen foundations, many of these carpets were of indifferent quality and unattractive, the design most frequently produced being bright red with all-over bold green-andblue lozenges and palmettos: these are often referred to as “Turkey” carpets. However, some attractive products were made, generally based on Persian models of the same period.
• MAIN AREAS OF PRODUCTION Ghiordes, Ladik, Konya,
Hereke, Kum Kapi (Istanbul)
• WEAVE most town pieces are either cotton or silk on a wool foundation; less fine examples are woven in wool
• DESIGNS many patterns take their inspiration from classic prototypes and Persian models; nomadic and semi-nomadic rugs usually feature geometric designs
• COLOURS these vary enormously from bright, vibrant jewel colours to washed-out pastel shades – the latter especially typical of town production pieces; poor examples feature harsh bright colours; modern nomadic and semi-nomadic pieces are characterized by the use of soft pastel shades
• COLLECTING look out for harmonious colour combinations and well-balanced designs; fine silk rugs from Hereke and Kum Kapi are rare, exquisitely made, and usually extremely valuable; it is advisable to buy rare antique rugs only from reputable dealers – the most beautiful examples would have been made for export purposes so it is not usually advisable to travel to the country of production to find the best pieces

Some of the finest Art Deco furniture was produced in France, where designers reacted against the Art Nouveau style, and were inspired instead by the lines of 18th- and early 19th-century French furniture.
Cabinet-makers such as Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann
1879-1933) created one-off pieces in exotic woods; others were influenced by African and Oriental art,
while from 1925 the machine aesthetic of Modernism gained prominence, with such materials as tubular steel.

TRADITIONALIST DESIGNS
The leading French furniture designer
from c.19 IS to the mid-1920s was
Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann, whose exceptionally fine handmade furniture is an elegantly pared-down version of the Neo-classical and Empire styles, with typical 18th-century features such as tapering, fluted legs. Decorative effect     is provided by exotic wood veneers, sometimes with inlaid ivory, mother-of-pearl, and tortoiseshell. After 1925 Ruhlmann used Modernist materials, such as tubular steel, but continued to work in a traditional style.
Other designers inspired by historical furniture were Louis Sue (1875-1968) and Andre Mare (1887-1932), who in 1919 formed the Compagnie des Arts Francais to produce a range of pieces including chairs, commodes, and desks, typified by massive forms and veneered in exotic woods with carved or inlaid stylized flowers, fruits, and plants. Their designs are heavier in style than Ruhlmann’s, as they favoured adaptations of Louis Philippe furniture of the 1830s and 1840s.
Many leading Paris department stores
had separate studios that provided a complete interior-design service. From 1921 Maurice Dufrene
( 1876-1955) directed La Maitrise, the design studio of Galeries Lafayette, and from 1923 Paul
Follot (1877-1941) was artistic director at Pomone for Au Bon Marche. Follot designed a wide range of  furnishings; urnishings; his furniture, like Ruhlmann`s is based on 18th-century forms, but
is distinguished by giltwood frames and richly coloured, patterned upholstery. Although his designs became more geometric after 1925, Follot continued to prefer wood, gilding, lacquer, and inlay to tubular steel, plastic, or glass.
EXOTIC AND MODERN DESIGNS
The geometric motifs typical of this period were derived from Cubist painting, which itself was influenced by the stylized forms of African masks and sculpture. The
furniture designer Pierre Legrain (1887-1929) took inspiration from African furniture, fashioning traditional designs in Western materials.
The Art Deco taste for Oriental art is evident in the popularity of lacquered furniture, the leading exponents of which were the Swiss-born Jean Dunand (1877-
1942) and the Irish-born Eileen Gray (1879-1976), both active in Paris. Dunand’s early lacquered furniture featured floral designs; his work from the 1920s depicted geometric forms in red-and-black lacquer and sometimes panels of crushed eggshell (coquille d’oeuf). Gray studied lacquering in Paris with the Japanese master Sougawara, and in 1920 she designed a furnished apartment for the milliner Suzanne Talbot, featuring a collection of African-inspired spired pieces. From c.1925, influenced by Modernism, she produced furniture of tubular steel, glass, and aluminium.
The leading designer of Modernist furniture was the architect Le Corbusier (1887-1965). At the 1925 Paris Exhibition he designed the Pavilion de VEsprit Nouveau, a stark, geometric space sparsely furnished with mass-produced items such as bentwood furniture by Thonet. From 1926, with Charlotte Perriand (b.1903) and his brother Pierre Jeanneret, Le Corbusier designed his own functionalist furniture using tubular steel and other “new” materials. These and other Modernist designs have been reproduced since the 1960s by the Italian furniture company Cassina.

Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann
•    FORMS simple, elegant forms    18th-centuryforms
based on 18th-century designs, with a very high standard of workmanshipMATERIALS
•     exotic wood veneers, such as Macassar ebony, amboyna, palisander, and amaranth; ivory inlay
•    COLLECTING all work collectable, and highly priced
Marks
Ruhlmann’s work carries this signature
Compagnie des Arts Francais
•    MATERIALS marble tops, velvet upholstery
Legrain, Dunand, and Le Corbusier
•    FORMS Legrain: African-inspired with angular, stepped features; Dunand: naturalistic floral designs, geometric designs; Le Corbusier: stark, Modernist designs TECHNIQUES AND MATERIALS Dunand: lacquering, crushed eggshell; Le Corbusier: tubular steel frames
•    COLLECTING Le Corbusier: modern reproductions
mass-produced by Cassina arc more accessible

Early chairs
Before the 16th century rooms were sparsely furnished, and the range of furniture was limited. Chairs were scarce and, like stools, were viewed as symbols of authority. It was not until the 16th century that more comfortable chairs were made. At this time the major artistic impetus spread northward from Italy, and chairs were made in quantity only in southern Europe. By the I7th century, as lifestyles became more settled, there was a greater demand for comfort in seat furniture.

A Turner’s or “thrown” chair
s of this type were produced in Britain from the 16th century, and
still made in provincial areas into the 19th century. “Throwing” was early term for turning. These chairs were often made from ash, which strong and ideal for turning, although susceptible to woodworm. late 17th century; ht Iml3ft3in; value H)
SOUTHERN EUROPE
The earliest prototype was the 16th-century Italian X-frame folding chair, usually in walnut, Inch was adopted in northern Europe from the end of the century. Spanish examples exist that are inlaid with ivory and metals in stellar and geometric designs in the Moorish fashion.
Armchairs of the 16th and 17th centuries were refined versions of the carved chaise caquetoire (gossiping chair) which, with its solid, carved back and trapezoidal seat, was not very comfortable. As revealed by the engravings of the Flemish designer Hans Vredeman de Vries (1526-(.1604) in his Differents Pourtraicts de Menuiserie ((.1585), the earliest-surviving traditional easy chairs were executed principally in Tuscany, Spain, Portugal, and The Netherlands in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Known as the sillon De fraileros (”monk’s chair”) in Spain, this type of chair was usually of walnut, with scrolled and acanthus-carved stiles. The upper section Was supported by plain legs joined by waved stretchers, and the chair was upholstered with
intricately tooled and embossed leather stretched by ornamental heavy brass nails. Examples from The Netherlands often have lion finials surmounting the stiles.
NORTHERN EUROPE
Turning on a foot-operated lathe (which revolved the legs while the wood was cut to the required shape) became an increasingly popular decorative technique in northern Europe, and by the early 17th century most legs were turned. This form of decoration remained fashionable until the end of the century. Designs became increasingly intricate at this time, culminating in the “barley-sugar” (spiral) twist.
Peculiar to the 17th century is the oak joined chair with arms, often called a wainscot chair in Britain. Similar designs were made in many countries throughout northern Europe, and examples are still found in some numbers. This type of chair commonly has a scroll-carved toprail, sometimes inscribed with initials or a date. Its characteristic feature is a panel back, often symmetrically carved with stylized
leaves, lozenges, roundels, and lunettes. The seat
is solid, but would originally have had a squab cushion, and the front supports are ring-turned, with the legs joined by stretchers. Chairs of this type were made until the end of the 17th century and represent the final stage of the age of the joiner, as this period is often called. Designs and techniques changed considerably after this time, but in many provincial areas the traditional methods of construction continued to be used.

•    woods invariably indigenous – walnut in southern Europe and oak in northern Europe; rosewood was used to a limited extent during the 17th century in Portugal
•    DAMAGE examples that pre-date 1600 are extremely rare, and 17th-century examples should be examined closely for repairs; age, wear, and tear will have taken their toll – the legs and the lower part of the back are particularly vulnerable
•    DECORATION painted decoration, upholstery, leather, and caning have often been changed; if the originals remain, they increase the value
•    COPIES AND FAKES most 17th-century chairs are stylistically of a very simple form, the same designs being produced over a long period, making them difficult to date; turners’ chairs arc popular with collectors and are often faked – copies are difficult to detect as they may be quite old themselves, and tend to be in the same woods as the originals (ash or oak, not walnut), with good-quality carving; the colour of the wood on all unpolished surfaces should be closely examined, as should the overall patina

Early Chinese Ceramics
By the Shang period (c.1600-c.1050) when stonewares were first produced in China, there was an advanced ceramic technology, with the separate high-fired and low-fired traditions of Chinese ceramics already apparent. The high-fired Yue stonewares produced from the 3rd century AD were the precursors of the great celadons of the Song period and represent a high level of technical and artistic achievement.
EARLY WARES
The earliest known Chinese ceramics are low-fired eathenwares dating from the Neolithic period. Distinct traditions emerged in the Central (c.5000-c.2500 BC) and Western (c.3300-c.1800 BC) Yangshao cultures and the Dawenkou culture (c.5800-c.1500 BC) in the north-east. The distinctive bulbous red Yangshao earthen wares were coil constructed and were sometimes decorated with impressed cord-like patterns or painted with bold black or purple geometric designs, often of spirals and loops enclosing checkered patterns. Dawenkou wares are thin, wheel-thrown pots made of red, grey, or black earthenware, which was burnished.
During the Shang period thick, white, unglazed pots were made of kaolin (china clay), while other fine clays were used to make stonewares, which were then glazed. A, ceramics technology developed, wares became
increasingly sophisticated; the potter’s wheel became more common, and new types of body - such as high-fired stoneware-were introduced. Forms at this time tended to be based On such bronze ritual forms as the ding and the hit. In the Han period a huge variety of wares was made, including models of houses, farms, ponds, and human figures in lead-glazed earthenware, which were all produced as funerary goods to accompany the deceased into the afterlife.
sophisticated desk ornaments, such as water droppers and brush rests in the shapes of frogs, lions, and other animals, as well as burial urns with applied models of buildings, animals, people, or Buddhist deities. Yue
wares also include more functional items, including straight-sided basins. From the second half of the 4th century ewers with characteristic “chicken-head” spouts were produced, and within about 100 years more elegant versions with taller proportions were being made. In general, later Yue wares are more graceful than earlier ones, the glaze becoming progressive less olivey and more jade-like and translucent owing to the use of finer raw materials.
TANG WARES
Some fine white-bodied wares, which led to the production Of true porcelain, were made during the Tang period, and included both glazed and unglazed wares. The glaze on Tang wares is particularly distinctive as it has a bright, glassy appearance. In the low-fired range the most characteristic wares of the period are the sancai (”three colour”) wares, namely earthenware vessels and models made as tomb goods, decorated
with runny lead-fluxed glazes coloured green, chestnut,
amber, cream, and, later, blue. Vessels are typically squat
and rounded, and include jars, vases, and bowls. Decoration was Moulded or painted with spotted designs based on contemporary textile patterns. Figures include tomb guardians (whose faces were often left unglazed and painted with coloured pigments after firing), camels, and horses. Because these wares have been buried for such long periods they are usually relatively undamaged; nevertheless, they can be very reasonably priced.
Principal Chinese dynasties
Shang (c.1600-c.1050 BC) Song (960-1279)
Zhou (c.1050-256 BC) Yuan (1279-1368)
Han (206 BC-AD 220) Ming (1368-1644)
Tang (618-907) Qing 1644-1911
Neolithic wares
• BODY red, grey, or black earthenwareFORMS
• funeral jars, cooking utensils, and ewers
• DECORATION cord-like patterns; bold painted designs
YUE WARES
Grey-bodied stonewares covered with a green-grey glaze were made in the Yue district in northern Zhejiang Province from the 3rd or 4th century AD until the 10th or 11th century, when they Isere superseded by the famous Longquan celadons. Yuc wares are exceptionally fine and were presented as tribute at the Tang court as well as being exported to South-East Asia and the Near East. Early Yue wares include
Yue wares
• BODY stoneware
• FORMS desk ornaments (water droppers, brush rests, etc); “chicken-head” ewers; bowls and jars
• GLAZE green-grey with an olive tinge in early wares
• DI CORATION incised decoration and applied figures
and modelling on desk ornaments and burial urns
Tang sancai wares
• BODY earthenware
• GLAZE lead-fluxed green, amber, brown, cream, blue
• DECORATION Pots re-create woven textile patterns; horses have superbly modelled tack