1970s Vintage Ozipek Silk Hereke Textile Art, "Cheerful Spring/Tree of Life" Design

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This is an authentic & very good condition Turkish Hereke, made by the famed Ozipek workshop in 10/10 quality, or … Read more This is an authentic & very good condition Turkish Hereke, made by the famed Ozipek workshop in 10/10 quality, or 100 hand-tied knots per square centimeter. This equates to over 600+ hand-tied knots per square inch, more than six times what you might find in an average-fineness flooring textile. It measures 74 cm by 49.5 cm, excluding the fringe. In upper-center of the border you will see the designation "Hereke Ozipek" knotted into the pile in Arabic-Persian script, "Ozipek" being the workshop designation and "Hereke" being the type and location designation.

The Ozipek workshop was never a true Hereke workshop, but rather the designation of a collective of weavers that combined resources for the purchase of silk, dyes, and designs. Sadly the workshop/collective is now defunct, but while the production lasted (1950s-1990s) they created by many estimates the finest silk textiles ever produced.

Authentic Turkish Hereke pieces, unlike Chinese replicas, are hand-knotted, made to amazing levels of fineness out of real Turkish (Bursa) silk, considered the best in the world. These textiles are 100% silk, both the knotted pile and the underlying foundation. Sadly the Turkish production of these items is now almost gone, a victim of modernization in Turkey and the cheaper Chinese production crowding the marketplace. The quality of the finest Turkish pieces has never been equalled however, not in the dye, materials, or quality of workmanship, by Chinese, Indian, or even (some would argue) Iranian productions.

This particular design, "Cheerful Spring," is the less-common cousin of the "Sad Autumn" design, popular in authentic Herekes. In the center of the cream field it features a tree with blossoming branches and three perched birds. Below the scene flowers and rocks are shown in detail. The field is framed by a floral border in deep indigo and olive tones.

Authentic Turkish Herekes in good condition are increasingly rare and collectible. This middle production, likely from the time period of 1970-1980, is in very good condition, and is an excellent example of the best production years of the Turkish Hereke art, by a workshop of the highest estimation. See less