'Bellini' re-entrant prayer rug (based on the Victoria & Albert Museum re-entrant rug)

Code: BLN03M

Size: 118x137cm

Size (ft): 3'10"x4'5"

Area: 1.61 m²

Density: 110 000 knots per square meter, totally ~175 000 knots

Colors: red, ivory, medium blue, dark brown, yellow, green, old purple/mauve.

Dyes: madder, weld (Reseda Luteola), indigo, pomegranate skins, walnut husks, cochineal, onion skins, natural dark brown sheep wool, natural ivory sheep wool

Materials: Handcarded and handspun wool for pile, ivory wool warps (natural ivory and brown twist) and ivory wool wefts (two shots). 1cm of flatwoven kilim ends at both sides. - wool on wool

Knots: Gördes (Turkish, symmetrical)

Pile height: 0.7cm

Ends: triangular plaited fringes

Inscriptions: the word "Adn" ("Garden of Eden") on the mihrab, weaving date (upper right corner of the field).

Weaver: Parvana

Weaving Period: 3 (three) months

Handwoven in Azerbaijan

Design: This type of 15th century Turkoman prayer rugs can be seen in the paintings of Venetian painters Gentile Bellini (c. 1429 – 23 February 1507) and his brother Giovanni Bellini (c. 1430 – 26 November 1516). The central field contains a mihrab or niche at the top with a keyhole or re-entrant design below and its center may contain a central medallion sometimes flanked by a double inverted mihrab or keyhole. Similar re-entrant or keyhole design rugs are depicted in Lorenzo Lotto's (b. ca. 1480, Venezia - d. 1556, Loreto) paintings too.

'Bellini' re-entrant prayer rug, Anatolia or Caucasus, late 15th century, 115x147cm, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK. inv. no: T135-1911

"Portrait of the Doge of Venice Loredan and his four advisers" 1507, by Giovanni Bellini (c. 1430 – 26 November 1516). Gemäldegalerie art museum, Berlin Madonna and Child with Saints, 1521, Church of Santo Spirito, Bergamo. by Lorenzo Lotto "The Virgin and Child Enthroned", c 1475-85, by Gentile Bellini (died in 1507). The National Gallery, London Mystical Marriage of Saint Catherine, by Lorenzo Lotto (1480-1556) Oil on canvas, 81 x 115cm, signed "Laurentius Lotus", dated 1523 (Accademia Carrara, Bergamo) "Husband and Wife", 1523, Oil on canvas, The Hermitage, St. Petersburg. by Lorenzo Lotto (b. 1480 Venezia - d. 1556, Loreto) "Madonna and Child with Sts Peter, Christine, Liberale, and Jerome", 1505. Oil on wood, Church of Santa Cristina, Treviso. by Lorenzo Lotto