"Lotto" rug, XVI century, Western Turkey, Ushak Region, Ottoman Empire. From the Alexander collection

Sotheby's
Rugs and Carpets
London | 07 Nov 2017, 02:30 PM | L17872

LOT 51
PROPERTY FROM THE ALEXANDER COLLECTION
AN OUSHAK "LOTTO" RUG FRAGMENT, WEST ANATOLIA
with 'Anatolian' field design
approximately 119 by 81cm; 3ft. 11in., 2ft. 8in.
16th century

ESTIMATE 2,800-4,000 GBP

PROVENANCE
Lefevre & Partners, London, 3 February 1978, lot 1.

LITERATURE
Alexander, C., A Foreshadowing of 21st Century Art The Color and Geometry of Very Early Turkish Carpets, New
York, 1993, p. 245, ill. pp. 51 (detail), 60 & 245.

CATALOGUE NOTE
As Alexander observes in A Foreshadowing of 21st Century Art this ‘Lotto’ fragment is rendered unusual by the
alternating red and green ground of the rosette and leaf border. This border denotes it as one of the group which were
likely not intended for the, ever demanding, western market. Another example of such a weave is in the Brukenthal
Museum, Sibiu, m. 1622 and is illustrated in Antique Ottoman Rugs in Transylvania, Rome, 2005, p. 93, cat. No. 21,
edited by Stefano Ionescu. The Brukenthal example shares the richness in colour which we see in the offered lot but,
whilst also sharing a similar border design, does not have the unusual alternating colour ground. See lot 122 for
further discussion of the ‘Lotto’ group.