Day 165 - Turkish carpets and taste

July 4, 2019

Gallery 459 contains 12 examples of carpets, mostly made in the 19th century,  ranging from relatively small prayer rugs to an enormous carpet from the Caucasus that would be suitable for any boardroom or for the main room of the Harvard Club. I like many of the carpets but by no means all of them, and the exhibit really makes me think about the elements of design to which I'm responding. One is almost certainly simplicity vs. complexity, and here I think I most like a "golden mean" - neither an overcrowded field nor one that seems too empty. Another is color: I like the lighter-colored  carpets more than the darker ones. The former give me room to breathe; the latter feel suffocating.

I thought I'd break form today and write about my most and least favorite pieces. Both are, somewhat to my surprise, called "Ghirlandaio carpets" because examples of them are found in some paintings by that artist. (Interesting to bear in mind  that Turkish carpets weree regarded as luxury objects in the early Renaissance!) The design features a central medallion composed of an octagon enclosed within a diamond from which curved forms emerge. The one I like best, which appears to be a square about 5 feet by 5 feet, was made in Turkey in the 19th century, probably by a small commercial workshop or a village weaver, according to the caption. The central medallion is woven in jewel tones, mostly ruby and cobalt blue, set off by outlines of off-white, against a ground of what appears to be light turquoise. It's a nice combination of warm and cool colors. The medallion takes up a good part of the carpet's central field, but by no means all of it: It's surrounded by a halo of stars enclosed in circles and, at the corners, by stepped forms. Surrounding this field is a border consisting of what appear to be stylized flowers (tulips?) alternately facing up and down I'd like to think of this carpet as adorning the bedroom of a favorite wife or a much-loved child.

The carpet I like least, which is perhaps 6' X 9' and made in Turkey in the late 19th century, is so jam- packed that I find it exhausting to look at. The medallion takes up nearly the whole field. Despite the liberal use of tan outlines, ut feels dark and airless. 

And yet, when I look at the small Hamadan rug (also a Ghirlandaio carpet!) in my living room, it looks more like the second  carpet than the first one! It too has a rather busy grid surrounding the central medallion and is darker in tonality, with a black ground.  Yet I've had it for more than 20 years, and I really do like it. In my well-lit living room, the darkness has never seemed a problem. Would I purchase it again? Maybe, depending on what else I saw. Maybe my tastes have changed over time - or maybe what I like depends at least in part on the context in which I'm seeing it, and the competition.