(Museum-Quality) ("One of “65 Best-of-Their-Type Rugs Sold in 2024") The eastern and central regions of the Turkish Anatolian peninsula were host to a wide variety of tribal carpet traditions. Throughout the 19th- century and beginning of the 20th-century tribespeople of Turkish, Armenian and Kurdish origin were all active producers in the mountainous, sparsely populated districts, where conditions of isolation and cultural concentration have led to highly distinctive regional styles. Melas weavings often incorporated soft, lustrous wool of notable high quality, a direct link to their ancestral sheep herding culture. Here, a distinctive nine-sided keyhole shaped polygon, based in a rich, glowing cinnabar red, houses a vine-formed diamond in the lower portion overseen by a single flowerhead in the upper. This striking configuration rests beneath the parchment "spandrel" displaying enigmatic stylized flower heads in tones of rosy coral and Aegean green. A pair of small 'tumar' amulets hang from the upper border, gently jingling in the ears of the mind. Wide saffron gold borders offer tumbling blossoms and a healthy dose of prized Tyrian purple, an exclusive and expensive dyestuff to create.

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