Room-size Oushak carpets like this are the proud heirs to a long tradition of western Turkish or Anatolian rug weaving. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Oushak was a major center for the production of large-scale palace carpets for the Ottoman dynasty that competed with contemporary Safavid Persian court carpets. In the nineteenth century when the western demand for Oriental carpets began to accelerate, Oushak once again emerged as a major center that could satisfy the European and American requirement for luxurious room-sized rugs. But to meet this more widespread demand, production in the nineteenth century now had to expand to the various villages surrounding Oushak, involving weavers who were more accustomed to the production of smaller rugs. So while nineteenth century Oushak weavers still strove to emulate the design sensibility of large-scale Persian court rugs as their sixteenth- and seventeenth-century forebears had done, they also incorporated design elements from the repertoire of luxurious smaller classical Turkish rugs like those of Ghiordes, along with the all wool foundations and silky lustrous wool typical of such smaller pieces. All these elements combine to give Oushak carpets a uniqueness and supple handle that no room sized Persian rug can achieve.
This magnificent example has a lovely central medallion composed of a floral wreath surrounding a central blossom or bouquet, all in shades of ivory, teal, and soft mossy green, set against a warm red field with additional floral sprays above and below the medallion. The field in turn is bounded by undulating scalloped cornerpieces filled by palmettes and fine, flowering vines. Above and below the field are additional horizontal panels or elems filled with crenelated arabesques and serial palmettes on a moss green and sage ground echoing the cornerpeces. These elems are unusual for room-sized rugs. They are far more typical of small format rugs, especially prayer rugs of Ghiordes type. The entire composition is enclosed by a grand palmette vinescroll main border, reinforced by smaller minor borders of vines and cartouches, with a thin red band running all around the edge of the carpet. The upper and lower ends are finished off with this strips of sage green flatwoven kilim and knotted wool fringes, again reminiscent of smaller Ghiordes rugs. The warmth and richness of the palette is set of beautifully by the soft Angora wool of the pile, endowing the carpet with the luminous elegance for which room-sized antique Oushaks are famed.