Twelve carpets and flatweaves from the ORIENT STARS Collection.

The following twelve lots originate from the „Orient Stars“ Collection. They were offered before at the „Orient Stars“ special auction held by RIPPON BOSWELL on 2nd October 1999. Comprehensively catalogued by us at the time, all objects are also illustrated and discussed in the „Orient Stars“ publication. In view of the museum character of these collectors items, we have dispensed with descriptions of their condition. Collector E. Heinrich Kirchheim, now deceased, placed more emphasis on the artistic expression, beauty, rarity, cultural and historic importance of the objects in his collection than their state of preservation, a perspective many important collectors develop during the course of their collecting lives. All carpets and kilims were expertly cleaned and conserved prior to publication in „Orient Stars“ in 1993. Most of the fragments or objects surviving in fragmented form were backed with canvas and some of them framed. Below, references to the publication, „KIRCHHEIM, E. HEINRICH, Orient Stars. Eine Teppichsammlung. Stuttgart-London 1993“ will be abbreviated to „OS“; our previous catalogue of the „Orient Stars“ auction is referenced „RB“.

“One might dub this rug, and its handful of close relatives, ‘E type’ Star Kazaks. ... Note how the internal design of the central red star also parallels the basis Star Kazak design concept, as well as the surrounding sickle leaf forms, and the ‘S’ forms in the border.” (HK)

“I particularly like the dramatic contrast between the calm of the camel-brown ground and the powerful, typically Caucasian, ornaments. The strongly outlined hooked blue medallions , which can be related to those seen on plate 69, are balanced by the less clearly defined central red medallion, as in the Star Kazaks. The cartouches between have evolved into stars.” (HK)

“A kilim-related design which lends itself to a wide variety of interpretations. Note the Karachoph-related ‘tree’ design in the skirt.”

“On the basis of colour arrangement and structure this outstanding kilim can be placed among a group of weavings from the Antalya region, which Belkis Balpinar first described in the literature in 1984... A very interesting fragment, differing only in small details from the kilim introduced here, is in the Galveston Collection, and another small fragment – perhaps also part of this group or possibly of the west Anatolian red-ground group – is in the McCoy Jones Collection... The weaving illustrated here must be the most beautiful and most interesting, as well as the oldest example in this group of kilims from the Antalya region known to date.” (JR)

“This kilim was the first important example of its design type to come onto the Istanbul market, via the village of Savashteppe... This example is fragmented; it is missing the red surround with the pinnacle or finger-like transition to the field.” (JR)

“This central Anatolian flatweave is reminiscent of the famous 15th century animal carpet in the Ethnographic Museum, Konya, published by Kurt Erdmann. The composition of the central field in that unique carpet could almost have been the prototype for this piece... The fact that such a 15th century design concept should have survived relatively unchanged on a 19th century flatweave supports the argument for strong design continuity in flatweaves. This was not the case with pile-woven carpets, which were much more influenced by changing fashions.” (JR)