Summer Floor Covering (nihale)

Islamic, Turkish
Not On View
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About the Artwork

In the sixteenth century, Ottoman imperial workshops at Istanbul and Bursa produced some of the most sumptuous fabrics ever created. These prized textiles were distributed as gifts and exhibited at ceremonies. This enormous floor covering was probably woven at Bursa, an international center for the silk trade. Eight-petaled rosettes enclosing carnations and rosebuds alternate with crosses of serrated leaves to form an overall pattern. Glittering silver-wrapped yellow silk thread and ivory satin contrast with red and blue green velvet. The pile of one half of the floor covering lies in one direction while the other half lies in the opposite, creating a magical shimmer.

Summer Floor Covering (nihale)

between 1650 and 1700

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Turkish

Islamic

Cut and voided velvet; silk with metal threads (silver wrapped silk core); compound satin and velvet

Overall: 105 1/2 inches × 16 feet 1 inches (268 cm × 4 m 90.2 cm)

Rugs

Islamic Art

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene H. Welker

48.137

This work is in the public domain.

Markings

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Provenance

until 1918, the Doria Collection at the Villa Doria-Pamphili (Rome)

Giorgio Sangiorgi and Adolph Loewi Collections. Mr. and Mrs. Eugene H. Welker

1948-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

Weibel, Adele C. "A Turkish Velvet Hanging," Bulletin of the DIA 27, no. 2 (1948): pp. 80-83.

Weibel, Adele C. 2000 Years of Textiles. New York, 1952, cat. no. 148, pp. 123-4 (ill.).

Atil, Esin. The Age of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent. Exh. cat., Harry N. Abrams, Inc. New York, 1987, cat. no. 152, pp. 219, 218; (color ills.) p. 219, 319.

Sims, Eleanor. "The "Doria Velvet": An Ottoman Velvet in the Detroit Institute of Arts," Seventh International Congress of Turkish Art. Warsaw, 1990, pp. 215-220.

A Visitors Guide: The Detroit Institute of Arts, ed. Julia P. Henshaw. Detroit, 1995, p. 129 (ill.).

Ihsanoglu, E., ed. History of the Ottoman State and Civilization [in Turkish]. Istanbul, 1998, (ill. 210) ["Brocaded velvet floor-covering (detail); second half of the 16th century."].

Atasoy, Nurhan, et al. The Crescent & the Rose: Imperial Ottoman Silks and Velvets. United Kingdom, 2001, pl. 101, pp. 148, 149 (ill.), pp. 232, 238, 339.

Style and Status. Exh. cat., Arthur M. Sackler Gallery/Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution. Washington D.C., pp. 44-45.

A Collector's Fortune. Islamic Art from the Collection of Edmund de Unger. Berlin: Musuem fur Islamische Kunst, cat. no. 71, pp. 91-92 [mentioned].

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Islamic, Turkish, Summer Floor Covering (nihale), between 1650 and 1700, cut and voided velvet; silk with metal threads (silver wrapped silk core); compound satin and velvet. Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene H. Welker, 48.137.

Summer Floor Covering (nihale)
Summer Floor Covering (nihale)