3’10″x4’10” Melas, c. 3rd quarter 19th century, Southwest Anatolia
This carpet, made in Melas (or Milas, after the Greek-founded Turkish Aegean city), has a famous Ottoman design motif present in multiple art forms across Turkey called the Saz leaf design. Present in their most ornate form in Iznik tiles (which date to the 16th century), and in their most primitive in Central Anatolian Yastiks, this representation lies in the middle of the previous two listed in terms of sophistication.
