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Ushak Medallion carpet, Turkey, first half 17th century. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

 

Medium:Wool (warp, weft, and pile); symmetrically knotted pile
Dimensions:Rug: H. 198 1/4 in. (503.6 cm); W. 103 3/8 in. (262.6 cm)
Credit Line:Bequest of Donald J. Simons, 1984
Accession Number:1986.289

Provenance: Donald J. Simons, New York (until d. 1984; bequeathed to MMA)


Made in large numbers and hugely popular both in the Ottoman empire and in Europe, medallion Ushak carpets such as this were produced from the later fifteenth century to the eighteenth. The design in theory repeats infinitely in all directions, although "cut" by the border. It consists of ogival medallions alternating with smaller eight-lobed "stars."