Cairene Ottoman prayer rug, 17th century. Berlin Museum of Applied Arts


John Taylor's notes: "The bordeaux ground Lessing Carpet was purchased by the first director of the Berlin Museum of Applied Arts, Julius Lessing, in Constantinople, 1889. He thought highly of it and published the piece in his second carpet book of 1891. The lamp is gone, and the spandrels are now filled with tulips and palmettes, a device which would later find favour in a whole group of "Transylvanian" carpets. The piece is knotted on an all silk foundation with cotton highlights. It is actually a composite,made up of around 15 different fragments."