Authentic 1900s Oversized Turkish Oushak Rug

An early 20th century Turkish Oushak (Ushak) antique rug, the soft tan field with an overall design of alternating columns of hooked crab motifs with medallions and stylized eggplant palmettes within an eggplant rosette border.

Oushak rugs (in Turkish known as U?ak Kilimi) are carpets that use a particular set of designs, called by convention after the town of U?ak – one of the largest cities in Western Anatolia, which from the early days of the ottoman Empire to the dawn of the 20th century was a major center of rug production (and still stands among the most important ones in the world). Anatolia literally translates into “land of the rising sun”, and historically, antique Oushak rugs are classified as Anatolian. Interestingly enough, the level of international popularity reached by the Turkish rugs from U?ak became such that the word “Ushak” is considered an English word of Turkic origin.

Ushak antique carpets, particularly those known as ‘Lotto carpets’, are among the later types of large area rugs in Renaissance painting, as they were imported by Europeans, where they adorned cathedrals, churches, and the homes of the wealthy and powerful.