HUMA 1845 Lecture Notes - Lecture 90: Prayer Rug, Quatrefoil, Ottoman Architecture
7 Jan 2018
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Document Summary
Carpet weaving is the traditional art of turks and the development of the arts linked to the turks since its inception, with early woven fragments discovered in central asia. The knotted rug appears to have spread from central asia westwards through persia and anatolia with growing turkish empires. With the expansion of the ottoman empire in the 16th century, Ottoman sultans began to commission large carpets for the mosques that they had built. They were woven not only for use in the palace, but also to be presented as gifts to high level foreign dignitaries, or as custom- ordered mansion carpets. Ottoman courts also exported carpets to european lands (see: (http://www. metmuseum. org/toah/hd/isca/hd_isca. htm ) Master artisans were brought to istanbul from tabriz and cairo and assigned to work at the topkap palace. Animal figures and geometric designs, important elements in carpets up to that time, were enriched with more graceful and sophisticated outlines and designs such as plant and cloud motifs.
