Summer Floor Covering (nihale)

between 1650 and 1700

Islamic, Turkish

Not On View

Summer Floor Covering (nihale): 1 of Collection Gallery

Image Only Image + Details All Images High Resolution TIFF Metadata

About the Artwork

Please note: This section is empty
Markings

Please note: This section is empty

This section contains information about signatures, inscriptions and/or markings an object may have.
Provenance

Please note: This section is empty

Provenance is a record of an object's ownership. We are continually researching and updating this information to show a more accurate record and to ensure that this object was ethically and legally obtained.

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

Please note: This section is empty

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.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Suggest Feedback
Published References

Please note: This section is empty

We regularly update our object record as new research and findings emerge, and we welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Suggest Feedback
Catalogue Raisonné

Please note: This section is empty

A catalogue raisonné is an annotated listing of artworks created by an artist across different media.
Credit Line for Reproduction

Please note: This section is empty

The credit line includes information about the object, such as the artist, title, date, and medium. Also listed is its ownership, the manner in which it was acquired, and its accession number. This information must be cited alongside the object whenever it is shown or reproduced.
Audio Transcript

Please note: This section is empty

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.

Title Summer Floor Covering (nihale)

Artwork Date between 1650 and 1700

Artist ----------

Life Dates ----------

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. Turkish

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Islamic

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

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

Classification Rugs

Department Islamic Art

Credit Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene H. Welker

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 48.137

Markings

Please note: This section is empty

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, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

Please note: This section is empty

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.

We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.

Suggest Feedback

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].

Kindly share your feedback or any additional information, as this record is still a work in progress and may need further refinement.

Suggest Feedback

Catalogue Raisoneé

Please note: This section is empty

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.