Two Kum Kapu Rugs

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Two Kum Kapu Rugs ( Turkey c. 1900 )

Medium

Silk and metal thread on silk

Dimensions

117.00cm wide 168.00cm high (46.06 inches wide  66.14 inches high)

Provenance

From the C. John private collection

Description / Expertise

Kum Kapu (literally Sand Gate) was the name of the Armenian quarter of Istanbul at the end of the 19th century. In the rug workshops which lined the narrow streets, young women used pure silk and precious metal thread to hand weave rugs of the finest quality, under the supervision of
master weavers.
The examples illustrated here are by perhaps the most famous of
the designers and master weavers, Zareh Penyamin. He was greatly
influenced by 16th-century classical Persian designs, and his
own vision and skill produced fine rugs, using only pure silk and
precious metal thread. Hand knotting in silk was enhanced by
brocading in silver and gold thread interlaced by silk, creating
the unique embossed effect shown.