THE COVER ISSUE 151 MARCH-MAY 2007

CENTRAL ANATOLIAN MEDALLION RUG,

PROBABLY LADIK AREA

FIRST QUARTER 16TH CENTURY

1.61 X 2.85m(5'3" x9'4")

ALL WOOL,SYMMETRIC KNOT,

STRONG WARP DEPRESSION,

TWO LOOSE-SPUN RED WEFTS

A superb Anatolian village rug with a

design that suggests a link between the

medallion and star Ushak traditions as

well as contemporaneous Persian carpets.

In Ölçer et al., Turkish Carpets from the

13th-18th Centuries, Istanbul 1996, this car

pet, which was collected from the tomb of

the Seljuk Sultan Alaaddin Keykûbad in

Konya, is assigned to west Anatolia, specif

ically 17th century Ushak, presumably

since it has an Ushak-like medallion design

and narrow borders that resemble (but do

not exactly replicate) the minor borders on

some classical Ushak carpets. However,

the sophisticated style of its beautifully

executed Persianate medallion, pendants

and spandrels is in the vocabulary of the

first half of the 16th century or perhaps

even earlier, while in material and technical

terms the colour range, including a heavily

corroded brown, brownish reds, and a

striking shade of orange, as well as the

loosely knotted longish pile, wool quality,

heavy weave, and strongly ribbed back,

are all associated with the weaving of

Ladik, near Konya. Similar attributes

can be seen on the well-known Arhan

variant medallion rug in the Burns

Collection (HALI 45, p.14), which may be a

generation later. Museum of Turkish and

Islamic Arts, Istanbul, no 765

EDITORIAL

115-117 Anatolian kilims... an area which we fully expect to be one of the great revelations of the Istanbul ICOC

I HOPE THAT you enjoy our new design and size, the introduction of several new sections (First View, ENews and From the Archive) as well as a new structureto the editorial sections, of which we now have only three: Frontlines, Features, Context. Perhaps you might also notice that there are more features and more bite in our coverage in Context, where events receive more of a feature review with opinions expressed and knowledge imparted. Also please note that several articles have longer versions or additional information on hali.com – something that we will continue to do when relevant. Our preview of ICOC XI in Istanbul continues this issue, and I am convinced that that this conference will affect visitors, HALI and the rug community for many years. Not only in areas such as seeing early Turkish carpets and reigniting interest in Anatolian kilims but also because of the ambitious academic programme which will have almost eighty lectures and poster sessions. We all know, and often lament, the problems of choice among some sixty 20-minute lectures of very variable quality in several languages in parallel sessions over two-and-a-half days. The schedule for ICOC XI suggests that it will be no different this time. However, perhaps due to international enthusiasm for the conference’s location in the world’s premier traditional carpet entrepôt, and the fact that this is the first full ICOC to be held in a ‘source country’, Academic Committee Chairman Alberto Boralevi has put together a mix that on the face of it is noticeably less ‘jaded’ than that for ICOC X four years ago, with plenty of new names and fresh topics. There are separate sessions devoted specifically to archaeology, costume and textiles, a strong Turkmen/Central Asian session, appropriately ample Turkish themes (two sessions), technical/scientific matters, and even, for the first time, one on modern production. Then there are further sessions on Persian, Indian, Egyptian and Caucasian carpets and flatweaves, as well as European connections, and on collections, not to mention poster presentations too. It is all too much for any mere mortal to take in over a long weekend, but as we all value freedom of choice as one of the priorities of civilised life, we must regard the provision of so much choice as a significant blessing, and generally well worth the cost.

Ben Evans Editor

HALI ISSUE 1517