In the canon of Antique Konya Rugs we see a diversity of design from simple village peasant rugs to much more formal rugs. Connoisseurs have come to prize the wide range of Konya rugs with the smple village rugs receiving as much interest as the far more formal pieces.

The Konya region not only predates modern Turkey as a weaving center but it easily predates the Ottoman Empire as a weaving center. Konya was a Seljuk state and a vassal of the Mamluk Sultans of Egypt for far longer than it has been a part of Turkey and figured prominently in the Mamluk Mongol wars that to a great extent defines large parts of our world today.

The Seljuk Turks were Turkmen and are closely related to the Ersari tribe of Central Asia. Once they moved into Central Anatolia they brought a distinctly Turkmen influence into the Greeks and Armenians of the region. Konya rugs are a fusion of Turkman as well as the indigenouus Christian.

Antique Turkish Konya Rug from Nazmiyal

Konya Rugs
Antique KONYA LONG RUG CENTRAL ANATOLIA, LATE 17TH OR EARLY 18TH CENTURY

Antique KONYA KILIM CENTRAL ANATOLIA, LATE 18TH FIRST HALF 19TH CENTURY

Antique Konya rug

Antique KONYA RUG WEST ANATOLIA, 18TH CENTURY

Antique KONYA RUG CENTRAL ANATOLIA, LATE 18TH CENTURY

Antique KONYA CARPET WEST ANATOLIA, DATED AH 1265/1848-9 AD

Antique FRAGMENTARY KONYA RUNNER CENTRAL ANATOLIA, 18TH CENTURY

Antique KONYA CARPET CENTRAL ANATOLIA, FIRST HALF 19TH CENTURY

Antique KONYA RUG, CENTRAL ANATOLIA, 18TH CENTURY

Antique KONYA PRAYER RUG CENTRAL ANATOLIA, 18TH CENTURY

Antique KONYA PRAYER RUG CENTRAL ANATOLIA, CIRCA 1850

Antique KONYA RUG CENTRAL ANATOLIA, CIRCA 1850

Antique Konya Rug Fragment Late 18th century Sotheby's Lot 19

Antique Konya Rug Fragment Late 18th century Sotheby's Lot 20

Antique Konya Long Rug Dated 1804 Sotheby's Lot 44

Antique Konya rug with a Yastik design mid 19th century Sotheby's Lot 24

Antique Konya Long Rug mid 19th century Sotheby's Lot 12

Antique Konya Yastik circa 1880 Sotheby's Lot 49

Antique Konya Yatak mid 19th century Sotheby's Lot 38

Antique Konya Rug 2nd half 19th century Sotheby's Lot 106

Antique Konya Rug Tulip Pattern late 18th century

Antique Konya Rug from Nazmiyal

Bags and Trappings

Konya Bagface circa 1870 Sotheby's Lot 8

Konya Area Map

Antique Konya Rugs

Antique Konya Rug from Nazmiyal

A Konya prayer rug, circa 1875,

Seljuk Ersari/Azari Turkmen rugs

Konya is the center of Turkey's greatest carpet regions. Examples of Seljuk rugs have been identified from Konya dating to the 13th and 14th centuries. The Seljuk were the Elite clan of the Ersari/Azari Turkmen confederation who moved to Turkey just ahead of the Mongol invasion in the 11th century.

http://www.mfa.gov.tr/grupc/cj/cja/Seljuk.htm

Konya Fragment 18th C. Rippon-Boswell lot 115

Ancient city in Asia Minor, the modern Konya, Turkey. In ancient times it was known as Phrygia, Lycaonia, Cappadocia, and the Roman province of Galatia. The apostle Paul visited the city where he converted part of the Greek and Jewish population and established one of the seven important churches. Iconium reached it's peak as a Christian city in the third century.
It was a weaving center since at least the Seljuk invasion in the eleventh century.
From 1063 to 1309 it was the capital of the Seljuk Turks.

Konya Village Rug late 19th C. Nagel Lot 16

For Further Reading:

Guide to Konya Rugs

Persian Rug Guide Home

Antique Bidjar Rugs - Antique Tabriz Rugs - Antique Tabriz Haji Jalili Rugs - Oriental Rug Cleaning Austin - Antique Oriental Rugs - InexpensiveGifts

More Oriental Rug Notes by Barry O'Connell .text-ad { font-family: helvetica; font-size: 0.6em; border: 1px solid #e0e0ef; width:33%; }

Antique Konya Rugs Guide

Seljuk Ersari/Azari Turkmen rugs

Konya Turkey

Guide to Konya Rugs

More Oriental Rug Notes by Barry O'Connell