Prayer Rug with Triple Arch Design

Prayer rugs or "seccade" carpets were among the most popular rugs woven in Anatolia. Common features are the characteristic niche design evoking the mihrab or prayer niche and the smaller size that makes such carpets suitable for individual use. Departing from classical Ottoman court carpets, distinct designs and styles were created over time in villages and smaller towns of Anatolia, which explains the existence of a variety of types. This example from Ladik, near Konya in central Turkey shows a stylized niche with a triple arch – each arch shaped in triangles. Curiously, the columns were omitted by the weaver and instead replaced with a pair of stylized vegetal motif shaped as a lozenge, each one hanging as a pendant below the tree-like pattern inserted between the arches. Large carnation fill the top and stand out from whitish ground on top that contrasts with the deep red ground of the niche.