Antique Rug Market of Istanbul
Istanbul has quite old and very interesting relationship with oriental carpets since times immemorial. Carpets enjoyed important place in the oriental past of the Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal periods and continue to do so even now. The fact that carpets were the subject of famous paintings in the past becomes evident by witnessing a painting by Hans Holbein the Younger kept in London’s National Gallery which shows a carpet from west Anatolia among other things including a pair of compasses and a globe.
Carpets from Anatolia, whether new or just like new, were quite a rage during the time of King Henry VIII. Such carpets had portraits of important personalities as standing on the rug which was regarded as a symbol of status and wealth in Europe. Hence, such carpets were typically present in the courts of Europe.
But, the huge popularity of antique carpets in Istanbul can be traced back to the heydays of the Grand Tour. The Europeans, specifically the Britons had a special fascination and passion for paying visits to the Mediterranean classical civilizations in the second half of the 18th century.
The Grand Tour, which was considered to be a perfect manner of completing the education of a young person and gained special importance due to the poetry of Shelley and Byron together with the idealization imparted by the paintings of Orientalists’, could be regarded as the mark of beginning of tourism.
And the early tourists had a love for buying something unique and smooth on their way back home to be kept as souvenirs in their homes. Among this list of souvenirs loved by tourists included sculptures of Xanthos, a small Hellenistic city or the Parthenon marbles representing Greek temple sculpture, both of which have been now kept in the British Museum.
However, for those with lower budgets, some oriental rugs or even a statue in small size was the best feasible option. These oriental carpets or rugs thus purchased by tourists to be kept as souvenirs ought to have made their way from the bazaars of the city of Constantinople (now Istanbul). the statues, meanwhile, had be bought from the Athens or Rome in Italy.
The city of Constantinople came to be regarded as the city for finding things of pleasure for the Orientalists. Constantinople, the capital of Ottoman Empire, fascinated various travelers, painters, writers and many others by the unique habits of its milieu. Among these habits included wearing of typical Turkish costumes and having exquisite furnishings in their homes like Turkish carpets and rugs with fine embroideries and designs on them. The love of Orientalists for the Turkish culture and way of life could be well explained from the fact that some of them even adopted Turkish names and converted to the religion of Turks, that is, Islam.
The Orientalists love for the Turkish culture could be attributed to the new found freedom provided by the attitude of freedom provided by the city to these foreigners. So, they continued their journey in pursuance of their pleasure amidst the perfect background of exotic historical monuments including mosques, palaces and minarets which proved helpful to help them indulge in smoking of opium, an opportunity often denied in their native places.
All such facts which exhibit the response of Westerns towards the Oriental Turkey during the 18th and 19th century have been the subject of hot debates and discussions in the recent times. Edward Said happens to be the best proponent of the view that Orientalism, in reality, is nothing but a mere put-down of the Eastern culture.
But, many oppose this view saying that Orientalism was the result of a high respect by Westerns for Eastern traditions and cultures. But there happen to be some distortions of the facts, for example, the commonly held notion of Westerners that nomadic rugs or carpets represent the art of Turkey would not have been authenticated even by the weavers themselves.
The shopkeepers of the famous Grand Bazaar became experts in catering to the needs of the clients or tourists in search of antique rugs and carpets and they are regarded experts in this field even in the present times. The work of recycling of old rugs and carpets was carried in the past as is done even now and the cleaning and repairing of the carpets and rugs was done in several alley workshops in the Grand Bazaar. The fact is that a large number of 19th century rugs are actually the restored rugs of the 18th century. The task of repair of old rugs was very tedious as it involved reweaving of all the borders of a rug.
The last years of the 19th century saw the birth and development of an embryonic carpet scholarship which meant categorization of rugs according to the tribe or area and the date of their weaving. The dealers in the carpet industry in Constantinople wasted no time in cashing on this opportunity and made huge sums by selling famous rugs to rugs lovers.
The fashion trend for the rugs witnessed popularity of rugs from the Kula, Milas and Gordes towns of the western Anatolia. Among these rugs were prayer rugs woven in conservative designs to suit the purpose they were meant for. These days, one can easily buy such prayer rugs at quite cheap prices which is quite in contrast to the importance and the price range which these prayer rugs enjoyed nearly five decades ago. Depending upon the condition of prayer rugs, one can find such rugs for $300 each at auctions held in United States and Europe now days.
However, an important thing to be borne in mind about the price of rugs is that there can not be any fixed price range or structure for any type of rugs. Nonetheless, one can buy a Milas for nearly $10,000 or slightly higher price range.
Highly sophisticated carpets and rugs continued to be sold in the 18th and 19th century in Istanbul’s antique carpet market, the new name by which the city of Constantinople came to be known after the year 1924. But, there were imminent signs forecasting a change in the carpet industry of the Grand Bazaar (Covered Bazaar or Kapali Carsi).
During the late 1950s, several groups of youngsters from Western countries started wading through the old city of Istanbul while on their journey to the East. Although, their ancestors had a special attraction for visiting and exploring Athens and Rome, these young Westerns felt fascinated towards India. These Westerns had reasons for their attraction for India.
Among the reasons for increased visits by young Westerns to India during the 1960s included incredibly low costs of hashish and the famous teachings of Hindus and Buddhist preachers. This was indeed a Grand Tour for the 20th century and the city of Istanbul came to be known as the ‘Gateway to the Orient’ in the wake of increased number of departing and returning tourists into Istanbul.
But, not everyone shared such fascination for carpets or antique rugs of Istanbul. At least, that is what appears from a letter written to Allen Ginsberg in the year 1957 by Wiliam Burroughs. The letter stated that there is no need for visiting the city of Istanbul because this city does not welcome Bohemian visitors. Also, the carpets and rugs in this city are very costly, the letter further added.
Nonetheless, various carpet dealers in Istanbul were quick to realize the vast potential market and bright scope of carpet industry in Istanbul. But, the new young clientele from Europe visiting the city of Istanbul did not want to buy intricate designs of Turkish carpets and rugs which they regarded as fussy patterns. What they liked to see in the rugs and designs of Turkey was a reflection of tribal life witnessed by them en route their journey. So, they wanted to buy nomadic rugs and carpets in strong colors and in asymmetrical patterns and animal trappings. This gave importance to the utilitarian weavings of village homes and tents, of course, after the art objects of Istanbul.
The Istanbul rug market, which was always quick to understand the mode and tone of their clientele, followed in to weave some of the finest tribal and village rugs of Anatolia. So, the markets of Istanbul were flooded with some of the best and classic examples of village weavings depicting Turkish village life and culture.
And several of these classic pieces of tribal rugs were successfully transacted from one generation to another so as to reach numerous public and private rug collections. The credit for this goes to not only Turkish but also some Western dealers who helped in bringing of such historic and antique rugs to this century. It would have been impossible to realize the beauty of such carpets without proper conservation of these rugs and carpets.
The most important and famous among the carpet and kilim dealers of Istanbul was All Ugurlu of Anadol Halichuk, who had an extraordinary sense of colors. Some of the best Turkish carpets supplied to the world came from the dealers of this famous person of Istanbul. Among the prized collection of such carpets included Christopher Alexander Collection. Alexander was a renowned professor and architect at Berkeley’s University of California since the year 1963. He had a fascination for very early carpets of Turkey. One can see his collection which is published in ‘A Foreshadowing of 21st Century Art’, book which contains the famous immortal saying, ‘A carpet is a picture of God.’
James Mellaart, a famous British archaeologist of the 1980s found a connection between the wall paintings found by him twenty years ago in Central Anatolia with the ancient Anatolian motifs in kilims. This traces the designs of Anatolian kilims, currently ignored by the textile and carpet industry, to nearly 10,000 years back. Although, Mellaart was severely criticized, however, his theories can be found in the anthology of rare and ancient kilims, titled ‘The Goddess from Anatolia’.
There was increased interest in the kilims of Turkey so much so that a great collection comprising of some of the earliest kilims of Anatolia was acquired by Caroline and H. McCoy Jones. This collection is now preserved carefully in the San Francisco Fine Arts Museums and is also published in Anatolian Kilims. Some of the kilims similar to those found in the above named collection can be found in the market even today. But, in the present times, kilims have faded out of fashion and hence, there has been significant fall in the prices of kilims in the international market.
However, one can find some of the notable kilim weavings from Turkey, Caucasus and Iran in the collection of Heinrich Kirchheim, a German industrialist and one of the most prominent buyers of Turkish carpets and rugs in the present times. This collection can be seen in the post-war publications based on oriental kilims and carpets.
The supply of the antique Turkish carpets witnessed a significant decline in the middle of the 1980s as there was a price rise in the rug market. So, the carpet and rug industry became stagnant, waiting for some new impetus to step forward.
The political turmoil in Eastern Europe and Russia in the year 1989 made Soviet Union divided into different independent republican states. So, the Caucus was now divided into three independent republics, namely Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia, while Uzbekistan, Kirghizstan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan were formed out of the Central Asia.
And the result was the end of all travel and business restrictions for people. People loved the sudden found freedom providing them with a big independent market and the opportunities to develop linguistic and cultural ties with the above name independent republics. This turned out to be a golden period for Turkey as the new independent entrepreneurs from these newly formed republicans thronged Turkey for business.
As the republics of the Caucasus headed towards Turkey, there was huge interest in the rugs industry resulting in a big demand for antique and ancient rugs of Turkey. Every single shop in Istanbul could be found to be selling Caucasian pile rugs. This created nervousness among the dealers from foreign countries since the kilims which were once regarded as rare were selling at a meager price of just around $800. But, no one had any clear idea about how this sudden increased supply of carpets will affect the carpet market.
Good quality Caucasian rugs and carpets have enjoyed a good market as compared to many other varieties of rugs. One can still find some rare Caucasian rugs within the price range of $4,000. Also, one can conveniently find a fine quality torba (small tent bag) made by the Tekke tribe in Turkmenistan during the 19th century for $500 or around by doing a bit of price bargain. However, for buying a carpet of your choice and according to your individual tastes, you must invest time by selecting from piles of carpets or rugs from the shops.