This small gem of Ushak production, the most classical and the finest of the three carpets of this kind in the Cerruti Collection (see also N. Cat. A682 and A684) can be identified as a prayer rug by the stylised mosque lamp in the upper section of the field. 

Carpets of this kind are in fact also known as “double niche prayer rugs”, the term “Tintoretto” deriving, instead, from the practice of naming the different kinds after the painters who depicted them in their works. The term most used at the international level is “Small Medallion Ushak”, to distinguish them from the large Ushak carpets with a central medallion woven in West Anatolia as from the end of the 15th century for at least three centuries, both for local use and for export to Europe, where many specimens are preserved with lengths ranging from three to six metres or more. Unlike their “big brothers”, which present a continuous modular design characterised by a large central medallion together with sections of secondary medallions along the sides of the field intersecting with the border, small rugs like these present an effective centralised pattern with a small hexagonal medallion floating on a red field with no decoration other than the above-mentioned lamp. The spandrels generated by the profile of the double niche are adorned with stylised arabesques and cloudbands delineated in yellow ochre. In this case, the border with a dark blue ground presents one of the most classical motifs, namely a meander of arched leaves enclosing stylised palmettes, similar to the one on the border of the previous item (N. Cat. A682). In this case, the motif of the border appears more closely worked, not least because of the greater density of knots, and is accompanied by two smaller guards of different breadth, the inner one being narrower. It should be noted that it is very rare to find rugs of this period with the outer guards still intact and indeed, as in this case, with a large part of the kilim finish at the ends, woven in yellow on warp threads dyed red. In actual fact, the warp threads, which run along the whole length of the carpet, are normally ivory in colour but were dyed red at the border to a depth of about twenty to thirty centimetres, a technical characteristic peculiar to the Ushak components of this group and the Transylvanian, and one whose presence constitutes a guarantee of authenticity. The carpet is from the illustrious collection of Consul Bernheimer in Munich, published in 1959, but was sold immediately after the owner’s death in 1960 and subsequently appeared in various auctions over the years. 

It is regarded as one of the finest specimens of this category in virtue of the particularly fine weaving and the brightness of the colours, which suggest the work of an important manufactory possibly involved in production for the court. 

Alberto Boralevi