Prayer Carpet

Location: Caucasus

Materials: woollen warp and cotton weft; woollen pile in symmetrical Turkish knots

Dimensions: 143 x 100cm

Accession Number: TXT 59

Other Notes:

Prayer carpets with depictions of the Prophet’s mosque at Medina are rare. The idea of incorporating this view on a prayer carpet may be seen as an extension of the Anatolian tradition, dating back to the late 17th or 18th century, in which prayer carpets were decorated with images of the Ka‘bah.

Bibliography:

S. Vernoit, Occidentalism. Islamic Art in the 19th Century, The Nasser D. Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, volume XXIII, London 1997, cat.17, p.39.