An Antique circa 1900 Turkish Oushak Rug. The plain soft field with delicate floral and vine designs creates a harmonious feel. Oushak's are known for their soft palettes combined with eccentric drawing. Oushak in western Turkey has the longest continuous rug weaving history, stretching back at least to the mid-fifteenth century. It has always been oriented commercially, supplying rugs and carpets, from scatters up to enormous mansion sizes, to both the Turkish/Ottoman domestic markets and to exports into Britain, and America. The best-known family portrait of George Washington has an Oushak beneath the Founder and his family. Doesn’t get more esteemed than that. Of course, the carpets have constantly changed as tastes, trends, styles, and markets evolved. In the late 19th/early 20th centuries, Persian or Persianate patterns were adopted, and dimensions mutated into Western room sizes.
