The Konya is among the most celebrated and coveted of Turkish rugs, and this example shows why: magnificent colour, bright wool, and the bold drawing of the nomadic loom. Two grand geometric medallions — the famous memling guls, hooked and stepped — command the brick-red centre, framed by chevron zigzags in ivory and indigo and a golden border of rosettes. The combination of geometric force and warm Anatolian colour is masterful, and the wool, more than a hundred years on, remains lustrous and the rug in perfect condition. Central Anatolia’s confidence, woven to last another century.
Konya