Karapinar rug

Karapinar, meaning ‘black spring’ in Turkish, is a small town in the vicinity of Karaman in southeastern Anatolia. During the 15th century, this area was home to the Karamind Khanate, the greatest rival to the Ottomans in Anatolia. Karapinar rugs are distinguished by their exceptionally soft wool pile and by a heightened sense of interplay between foreground and background. This classic Karapinar runner uses a repeat design of a distinct hexagonal medallion with a corner piece variant seen in Karapinar weaving from at least the 18th century. The dramatic ox-blood red ground is also indicative of this distinct Anatolian weaving group.