Signed Feshane Silk Rug

Period: Late 19th Century
Origin: Feshane, Turkey
Dimensions: 83 x 121 cm

This rare Turkish Feshane silk rug highlights a powerful and rhythmic floral composition featuring a curvilinear, moss green mihrab (prayer niche) anchored within a luminous, shimmering ivory gold field. This structural balance between the unadorned, elegantly stepped prayer niche and the surrounding field decorated with delicate pink floral sprays, stylized carnations, and “S” scrolling vines reflects the pinnacle of the Feshane Imperial factory tradition in Istanbul. Silk rugs of this antiquity and caliber are world renowned for their technical finesse and their role in representing the westernizing aesthetic shifts of the late Ottoman Empire.

The color palette is masterfully balanced, featuring a primary ivory gold field that serves as a dramatic canvas for high contrast shifts of rose pink, violet, and deep olive. These rich and enduring tones, achieved through the expert application of dyes on premium silk over 170 years ago, exhibit a metallic luster and a saturated depth that are hallmarks of the finest mid 19th century imperial workshop productions. The inclusion of a wide, multi layered border system anchored by a primary rose ground border containing a rhythmic sequence of reciprocating floral rosettes creates a precise visual frame that highlights the superior silk quality and the distinctive technical finesse of the weavers.

A defining feature of this masterpiece is the calligraphic cartouche located at the base of the field. This inscription panel contains an Ottoman Turkish phrase stating that the rug was manufactured “specially for Hüseyin Avni Pasha”. This ownership record is not merely a signature; it is an invaluable provenance document confirming that the rug was a high status commission designed for a prominent member of the late Ottoman aristocracy, likely produced within the imperial Feshane workshops.

Stock No: 5053

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