79212 Vintage Turkish Sivas Fish Rug, 07'11 x 10'00.
A delightful fusion of whimsy and craftsmanship, this hand-knotted wool vintage Turkish Sivas rug offers a fresh interpretation of Anatolian storytelling through textile. Woven in Central Turkey within the artistic village weaving circles of Sivas, this piece abandons the classical medallions and florals in favor of a charming aquatic tableau—an underwater dreamscape where each fish swims in its own folkloric rhythm. The composition is alive with vibrant motion, rendered in a jubilant array of salmon pinks, crimson reds, mustard yellows, gracious grays, and denim blues. The field teems with stylized fish, each distinctly drawn with quirky personality—some echoing submarines with window-like markings, others playful interpretations of folk animal motifs.
Set against a soft apricot-pink field, the repeat design achieves both harmony and spontaneity, where symmetry bows to imagination. Every fish, rendered in strong outlines and filled with dots, dashes, and bands, contributes to the sense of movement and visual rhythm. Tiny seahorses and curious creatures dart between the schools, lending the piece a mythological air—as if drawn from a village child's fable whispered into wool. This pictorial Sivas rug, though playful, is rooted in deep Anatolian traditions, where rugs were not merely utilitarian but narrative: expressions of daily life, tribal memory, and the unseen worlds of dream and story. Here, that tradition is reborn through a lens of modern artistic freedom.
Rather than a static composition, this Turkish rug pulses with folkloric symbolism disguised in joyful absurdity. The fish, ancient emblems of fertility, abundance, and mystery, are reimagined here as surreal figures—some hybridized with rockets or submarines, others adorned like parade floats. This surrealist tone reflects a late-20th-century Anatolian shift toward humor and experimentation in design, when weavers broke from inherited patterns to inject personal narrative and contemporary symbolism. It is this unexpected collision of tradition and invention that transforms the Sivas rug from a decorative object into a visual fable—playful, enigmatic, and richly layered with cultural wit.
Though this Turkish rug departs from formality, it carries the cultural weight of Anatolia’s weaving heritage into a playful and contemporary register. It belongs to a class of village pictorial rugs championed by cooperatives and workshops seeking to revive rural textile arts through color and creative license. Neither strictly tribal nor urban, it represents the heart of modern Turkish weaving: rooted in tradition, animated by imagination. Whether displayed in a gallery-like interior or a lived-in home, this rug invites conversation, curiosity, and a touch of wonder beneath one’s feet.
- Abrash.
- Hand knotted wool.
- Made in Turkey.
- Measures: 07'11 x 10'00.
- Pile Height: 0.37 of an inch.
- Date: 1980's. Late 20th Century.
