Transylvanian rugs
The field is decorated with small floral ornaments, which are drawn in an elaborate, curvilinear manner in earlier examples, and become more stiff and schematic in later pieces.
In other, probably later examples, the field decor is condensed into medallions of concentric lozenges and rows of eight-petalled flowers connected by projecting stems of curled leaves.
By their preservation in Christian churches, the rugs were protected from wear and the changes of history, and often remain in excellent condition today.
[3] Despite political rivalries, trade relationships intensified between the Ottoman Empire, Eastern Central Europe and South Germany from 1400 onwards.
By the middle of the 14th century, the Hungarian kings Louis I of Hungary and Sigismund had agreed on commercial treaties with the Republic of Genoa.
From the mid-15th century onwards, the number of Ottoman merchants, called saracenos (Saracens) in the Braşov documents, steadily increased.
[12] Pile-woven rugs from Asia minor were known in Western Europe since the Renaissance: They were depicted by European painters from the 14th century onwards.
An Ottoman customs register from Caffa dating from 1487 to 1491 documents rugs from the Anatolian town of Uşak as trade goods.
[15] A rug with a typical Transylvanian cartouche border appears on Robert Fekes painting Isaac Royall and Family (Boston, 1741).
The extent of this trade can be judged from the Braşov vigesimal (customs) register of 1503, which recorded the declaration of more than 500 rugs within one single year.
[18] The role of Anatolian rugs as trade goods of high value and prestigious collectibles is documented in the merchant accreditations, vigesimal accounts, municipal and church annals as well as individual contracts and wills, archived in the Transylvanian towns.
The municipalities and other institutions of the Saxon towns, persons of nobility and public influence, as well as citizens were owners of Ottoman rugs.
Referring to a fatwa by the Şeyhülislam, the sultan banned the sale of rugs "with depictions of mihrab, kaaba or hat (calligraphy)" to non-Muslims.
Only their material value as a good of luxury, and their purely ornamental, non-figural design seems to have made these rugs appear as appropriate adornments of Protestant churches.
In 2019, the historians Á. and F. Ziegler from Brașov demonstrated that, in contrast to previous opinion, Ottoman rugs were not on permanent display in the Black Church.
Until then, it was assumed that their ornamental, non-figural design allowed Islamic rugs to fill in the horror vacui, supposedly created by the 16th century iconoclastic fury.
[25] A multitude of contemporary sources bear witness to the use of rugs as decorative backgrounds of important social events like baptisms, marriages, or funerals.
[29] Following Alois Riegl's advice, a first inventory of the existing rugs was established by Ernst Kühlbrandt, who had them cleaned and put on display again.
[5] The Budapest carpet exhibition of 1914 already included a total of 354 old Turkish rugs, of which 228 pieces came from Transylvania[32] In 1925, Végh and Layer published an album in Paris entitled "Tapis turcs provenants des églises et collections de Transylvanie".
The forgeries, which have become collectibles of historic interest in their own right today,[34] were masterly executed, including the use of "lazy lines“, colours, and the artificial creation of wear and tear.
[35] For decades, the main source of information about Transylvanian rugs was Emil Schmutzlers seminal study "Altorientalische Teppiche in Siebenbürgen (Ancient oriental carpets in Transylvania)", published in Leipzig in 1933.
[3] Following the Union of Transylvania with Romania on 1 December 1918, the awareness of their own cultural heritage increased amongst the Transylvanian Saxons, who strove to retain their ethnic identity in the light of Pan-Romanian intentions.
Other specimen have become too fragile over time by the exposure to daylight and air, calling for their removal from the churches and storage in a better protected environment.
Therefore, Ionescu has initiated a project which aims at reproducing Transylvanian rugs of particular historic or artistic value, using traditional materials, dyes and weaving techniques to obtain a replica.
The project is supported by Transylvanian artists who create knot-by-knot cartoons based on detailed photographs, as well as by Turkish researchers and master craftsmen.
Wool of Anatolian sheep was hand-carded, hand-spun and dyed with natural dyes, matched to the original by means of the Appleton scale.
