Starting from the thirteenth century, the number of surviving Oriental rugs and pictorial records increases, particularly the Oriental rugs coming from the Anatolia region. Several early examples from the mosques of Ala-ad-Din in Konya and Eshrefoglu in Beyshehir belong to the Seljuk period. Like some other thirteenth century pieces, they have wide calligraphic (Kufic) or panel borders which contrast with the all-over design of the field. This impression of an endless pattern is increased by the diagonal arrangement, the connecting links from row to row, and the apparent lack of relationship and border.

Italy's close contacts with the Near East led to the importation of Oriental Rugs From Anatolia. That these were greatly treasured by their owners is obvious from the work of Italian - and later also Northern - painters from the fourteenth century onward. At first, we find designs of stylized animals within large squares, though it would hardly be safe to treat these early pictures as scientific records.

Two oriental rugs, on in Stockholm and on in Berlin are more reliable evidence. The completely rigid animal forms are clearly taken from some other technique; above all, they must have belonged to a much higher civilization before their descent into folk art.

Another type of design in Anatolian fifteenth-century rugs is based on purely geometric principles, the field being divided either into large octagons filled with geometric motifs or into a pattern of small polygons. The outlines of these small polygons and the dividing lines between rows can be interlaced in different ways. The border, originally a succession of Kufic characters, is transformed into an elaborate network. Islamic architecture already used calligraphy for its decorative qualities; mihrabs and doorways frequently bore inscriptions, particularly in the fourteenth century. Persian fifteenth-century carpets were created on very similar principles and we can safely assume a general impulse toward geometric design throughout the carpet regions of the Middle East.

In the sixteenth century this world of rigid and stylized forms came under the influence of the Persian enthusiasm for plant motifs and related ornaments, such as the arabesque. In 1516, Tabriz the capital of Azerbaijan and the residence of the Shah, was conquered by the Turks, who carried off many Leading craftsmen on that occasion and throughout the following decades. A series of surviving carpets from this period bars witness to the skill of the Persian carpet-masters and their pupils. Their work shares certain characteristics, such as the nobly outlined and detailed plant forms, the use of "Turkish" flowers like tulips, carnations, and hyacinths with Persian stylized giant flower-heads ad foliage, the absence of animals or the human form, the simplified border with identical or very similar guard stripes, and the use of the Persian knot. In the finest examples, warp and weft are of silk.

Best-Priced Oriental Rugs

In many seventeenth- and eighteenth-century rugs the term "Anatolian," without any further specification has to suffice.

The principal field designs of the Oriental rugs from Anatolia are:
-an arrangement of spheres and cloud bands;
-the so called bird motif, a design of angular stylized leaves, suggestive of birds;
-vases and fragments of scrolling stems
-the field of the mihrab (in prayer rugs) either left bare or divided by colomns;

Here are the principle border themes:
-scrolling stems, or tendrils, with cloud bands;
-scrolling stems with rosettes;
-angular arabesques;
-panels with geometric designs, usually some rudimentary motif;
-wide arabesque bands with toothed or saw-edged outline;
-reciprocal trefoils on a light ground.

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