Melas prayer rug

With their combination of vivid madder-based red and rainbow of softer almost pastel tones, Melas rugs are some of the most distinctive weavings of post-classical Anatolia. Many of the celebrated ‘Transylvanian’ group of Anatolian prayer rugs were woven in this region, and their descendants from the following two centuries, such as this piece, retain much of the classicism of their seventeenth-century ancestors. Indeed, the network of linked, swirling, small palmettes seen in the white spandrels of this piece have direct links with the classical ‘Transylvanian’ tradition. Melas prayer rugs from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries have a decidedly more village ethos. This piece is no exception using thin inner guard borders of oscillating ribbons and a main border composed of repeating stylized rosettes. These various layers of repeat give a unique sense of movement, which complements the directionality of the mihrab field.