Dear readers, dear carpet enthusiasts,
Almost at the last minute, we are pleased to announce a presentation by Dr. Georg Butterweck from Vienna, to be held at our premises on Friday, 4th December 2009, at 6 p.m., the eve of our auction on 5th December where the von Bode “Lotto” carpet will be offered for sale.
“Lotto” Designs as Symbols of the Islamic and Chinese Worldviews
Georg Butterweck, a well-known Austrian carpet scholar (“Das Standardwerk des anatolischen Knüpfteppichs – Zentralanatolien”, with Dieter Orasch, 1986), has analysed some 350 “Lotto” field designs to date. At the Volkmann meeting focusing on “Ottoman carpets in Transylvania”, held in Berlin in 2006, Butterweck spoke on a previously undiscovered secret of “Lotto” carpets: an exact design analysis has revealed that animal motifs derived from Chinese designs are concealed between the octagonal and cruciform ornaments of the field ground. Previously, Lotto designs were only analysed and interpreted in terms of the Islamic symbolism and worldview, and the designs in the field ground were neither taken into account nor identified as Chinese symbols.
Moreover, the presentation will discuss the basic concept, aesthetic structure and various styles of this famous carpet family, as well as issues relating to date. It will also establish why lot 173, the “Lotto” carpet formerly owned by art historian and Director of the Berlin Islamic Museum Wilhelm von Bode, is considered a first-rate example of its kind.
With best regards,
Detlef Maltzahn
Publicly appointed and sworn art auctioneer
RIPPON BOSWELL & CO. GmbH
Friedrichstrasse 45
D - 65185 Wiesbaden
Deutschland / Germany
Tel. 0049 611 334430
Fax 0049 611 307369
email: info@rippon-boswell-wiesbaden.de
www.rippon-boswell-wiesbaden.de
