79232 Late 19th Century Antique Pastel Turkish Oushak Rug, 11'08 x 14'07.
Woven in the twilight of the Ottoman Empire, this hand knotted wool antique Turkish Oushak rug from the Late 19th Century evokes the lyrical grandeur of a bygone age—where art, nature, and spirituality coalesced on the loom. The neutral beige field unfolds like parchment weathered by time, softly glowing beneath a lattice of radiant Harshang motifs, pale saffron quatrefoils, and soft pink medallions. Scattered across this dreamscape are blooming palmettes and lotus blossoms, their petals caught in a gentle hush, while angular vinery and curving fronds move like tendrils of calligraphy scripted in cochineal red and apricot hues.
Each motif tells its own tale—cypress trees rise as guardians of eternity, boteh symbols whisper wishes for fertility and abundance, and stylized florals emerge like distant echoes of garden walls long faded. Sinuous foliage entwines with amorphous and organic shapes, creating a rhythm of abundance that is both wild and deliberate, like nature tamed through memory. The lively red contour vinery courses through the middle of the composition like a current of lifeblood, infusing the otherwise tranquil palette with moments of fiery joy and ceremonial pulse. Every form seems to dance between clarity and abstraction, inviting the viewer to linger and interpret.
The border, a soft pink garland of botanical poetry, gently cradles the field like a frame for a sacred manuscript. Festooned with blooming palmettes and lotus blossoms, it echoes the central reverie in a more structured voice, balancing spontaneity with order. An inner guard band embroidered with cross motifs adds a protective cadence—perhaps invoking the old Anatolian practice of warding off harm—while a pair of outer guard bands wander outward in meandering floral procession. Together, they establish a delicate boundary between the woven world and the quiet stillness beyond its edge.
In its palette of muted saffron, cochineal red, sand, apricot, and gentle pinks with pops of faded black, this Late 19th Century Oushak rug captures the ephemeral beauty of an Anatolian sunset dissolving into stone and dust. It is a work that transcends ornamentation, functioning instead as a living chronicle—each knot a syllable, each bloom a stanza. From its lively field to its lyrical border, this Turkish masterpiece is not merely a textile, but a landscape of memory, grace, and ancestral rhythm preserved in wool.
- Abrash. Age Wear.
- Hand knotted wool.
- Made in Turkey.
- Measures: 11'08 x 14'07.
- Pile Height: 0.25 of an inch.
- Date: 1880's. Late 19th Century.
