coupled-column prayer rug

Not on Display

A prayer carpet, also known as a namazlık, seccade, or sajjadah, with a single‐arch motif at the center top portion of its design, such as this example, is used by Muslims to place on the ground to create a spiritually and physically clean and delineated space during five-daily prayer. This design is a stylized version of the more curvilinear prayer carpets found in the sixteenth century Ottoman court-style. The village weaver used more angular forms and bold saturated colors when designing this carpet. The relationship between arch design seen on prayer carpets and the gateway to Paradise is understood across the Muslim traditions, especially the columned and triple-arched design.
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Geography:
Türkiye; central Anatolia
Culture:
Turkic
Materials:
wool
Collection:
The Textile Museum Collection
Accession Number:
R34.22.1
Credit Line:
Acquired by George Hewitt Myers in 1925
Date:
18th century;
Copyright:
Public domain
Object Type:
Textile
Dimensions:
177.80 H x 117.48 W cm (70 H x 46 1/4 W in)
Structure:
lazy lines; semi-depressed warps; symmetrical knot, pulled left; knotted pile
Used in:
ceremonial, Islam; religious, Islam; praying
Style:
Turkish village
Bibliography:
The Arts of Islam, The Arts of Council of Great Britain, London, England, 1976, p. 95, fig. 53
Pat Kirkham (Co-Editor) and Susan Weber (Co-Author), History of Design: Decorative Arts and Material Culture, 1400-2000, Bard Graduate Center, New York and Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 2013, 208, Fig 9.21
Heinrich Jacoby (Author), Eine Sammlung orientalischer Teppiche, Scarabaeus Verlag, Berlin, 1923, pl. 46
Volkmar Gantzhorn (Author), The Christian Oriental Carpet: A Presentation of its Development, Iconologically and Iconographically, from its Beginnings to the 18th Century, Benedikt Taschen, Cologne, 1991, p. 483, ill. 679
Beth Brophy (Author), "A Legacy of Beauty", U.S. News and World Report: Secrets of Islam, U.S. News and World Report, New York, NY, 2005, p. 47
Donald King (Co-Author) and David Sylvester (Co-Author), The Eastern Carpet in the Western World from the 15th to the 17th Century, Art Council of Great Britain, London, England, 1983, p. 30, fig. 34
Sumru Belger Krody (Author), "Creative Tension", HALI, Hali Publishers, London, England, 2002, vol. 123
George Rogers (Editor), "TM on the Road", The Textile Museum Bulletin, The Textile Museum Bulletin, Washington, D.C., 1991, vol. Fall, p. 12
Sheila S. Blair (Co-Editor) and Jonathan M. Bloom (Co-Editor), Images of Paradise in Islamic Art, Hood Museum of Art/Dartmouth College, Hanover, 1991, p. 89 and 50, fig. 23b
Delmar L. Roberts (Author), "Washington Tekstil Müzesinde Türk Halilar", Türkiyemiz, Ak YayinlariLtd, Türkiyemiz, Ak YayinlariLtd. Sti., Istanbul, Turkey, 1975, June ed. vol. 6, no. 16, p. 29
Walter B. Denny (Author), "Exhibition Preview: The Classical Tradition in Anatolian Carpets", The Textile Museum Bulletin, The Textile Museum Bulletin, The Textile Museum, Washington, D.C., Summer 2002, p. 6
Walter B. Denny (Author), The Classical Traditions in Anatolian Carpets, The Textile Musem and Scala Publishers Ltd., London, England, 2002, p. 111, cat. no. 47
Richard Ettinghausen (Co-Author) and Maurice S. Dimand (Co-Author) and Louise W. Mackie (Co-Author), Prayer Rugs, The Textile Museum, Washington, D.C., 1974, p. 55, cat. no. 12
Ralph S. Yohe (Co-Editor) and H. McCoy Jones (Co-Editor), Turkish Rugs, The Rug Society of Washington, DC, Washington, D.C., 1968, pl. 13
Walter B Denny (Author), Sotheby's Guide to Oriental Carpets, Simon & Schuster, New York, NY, 1994, pl. 3
Rachel Bucci (Editor) and Julia Neubauer (Editor), The Textile Museum Bulletin, The Textile Museum Bulletin, The Textile Museum, Washington, D.C., 2003, Winter ed., p. 10
Esin Atil (Editor), "Turkish Art", Smithsonian Institution Press, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., 1980, p. 329, pl. 56
Louise W. Mackie (Author), The Splendor of Turkish Weaving : An Exhibition of Silks and Carpets of the 13th-18th Centuries, November 9, 1973 through March 24, 1974, The Textile Museum, Washington, D.C., 1973, p. 83, cat. no. 41
Victor Micaelian (Author), "The Enigma of the Transylvanian Triple Niche Rugs", Oriental Carpet & Textile Studies, Oriental Carpet & Textile Studies, San Francisco Bay Area Rug Society, Berkeley and Hali Publications, San Francisco, CA, 1993, vol. 4, p. 69, figs. 3a and 3b
Gerard A. Paquin (Author), "The Iconography of Everyday Life in Nineteenth Century Middle Eastern Rugs", The Textile Museum Journal, The Textile Museum Journal, Washington, D.C., 1984, vol. 22, p. 11, fig. 13
Valerie Berinstain (Co-Author) and Susan Day (Co-Author) and Elisabeth Floret (Co-Author) and Clothilde Galea-Blanc (Co-Author) and Odile Gelle (Co-Author) and Martine Mathias (Co-Author) and Asiyeh Ziai (Co-Author), "Great Carpets of the World", The Vendome Press, The Vendome Press, Paris, France, 1996, p. 96, fig. 70
Chita S. Middleton (Editor), Museum Magazine, The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum, Washington, D.C., 2023, Spring 2023 ed., p. 2
Sumru Belger Krody (Author), Prayer and Transcendence , The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum , Washington, D.C., 2023, cover
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Exhibition History:
Prayer & Transcendence, The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum, Washington DC, February 18, 2023 - July 02, 2023
Turkish Treasures: Highlights from the Collection, December 16, 1986 - August 09, 1987
The Arts of Islam, Hayward Gallery, London, April 08, 1976 - July 04, 1976
Islamic Prayer Rugs, The Textile Museum, Washington DC, September 21, 1974 - December 28, 1975
Devils, Demons and Dragons, Craft and Folk Art Museum, Los Angeles CA, October 31, 1976 - January 02, 1977
The Classical Tradition in Anatolian Carpets, September 13, 2002 - February 16, 2003
Navajo Rugs and Turkish Rugs (also called Classical Turkish Rugs and Navajo Blankets), The Textile Museum, Washington DC, September 23, 1983 - January 08, 1984
Classical Carpets, The Textile Museum, Washington DC, October 10, 1980 - January 03, 1981
Old Yarns with a new Twist: Familiar Favorites from the Textile Museum's Collection, The Textile Museum, Washington DC, June 08, 1984 - September 23, 1984
Turkish Rugs, The Textile Museum, Washington DC, May 26, 1968 - September 21, 1968
The Splendor of Turkish Weaving: An Exhibition of Silks and Carpets of the 13th to 18th centuries, The Textile Museum, Washington DC, November 09, 1973 - March 24, 1974
Unraveling Identity: Our Textiles, Our Stories, March 21, 2015 - August 24, 2015
The Eastern Carpet in the Western World from the 15th to the 17th century, Hayward Gallery, London, May 20, 1983 - July 10, 1983
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