AN ALEPPO KILIM

This finely woven kilim was produced in the surroundings of Aleppo at a time when North Syria was still a province of the Ottoman Empire. Woven in two panels, it would have once served as a door or window curtain. The central panel displays a dense repeat of elibelinde motifs drawn in an exemplary style and aligned in offset rows to form a tight geometric lattice. The panels at either end are filled with rows of stepped lozenges with extending arms above and below, which is a characteristic motif of Aleppo kilims, (Yanni Petsopoulos, Kilims, Fribourg, 1979, pp.166-167, figs.198-201).