Document: "Ornamental Lotto" Carpet early 17th century

Carpets like this one were used as table coverings that helped to keep people warm as they sat at the table.   Merchant trading ships carried these smaller carpets around the world, and they were valuable enough that they were generally not placed on the floor as we do today.

Metropolitan Museum of Art Summary:

Carpets displaying this striking design of stylized vegetal arabesques in yellow on a red background are often called "Lottos," after a famous altarpiece by the Italian Renaissance painter Lorenzo Lotto that includes a similar textile. The motifs depicted in the center field here have additional hooks and curls that render the overall impression more decorative. "Ornamental Lottos" like this one commonly have a border containing a series of medallions with symmetrical patterns based on the split-palmette. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Lotto carpets became a popular motif in Dutch and Flemish painting. Artists depicted them on tables in domestic scenes, portraits, and, occasionally, still lifes, as a sign of wealth and good taste.

Title: "Ornamental Lotto" Carpet

Date: early 17th century

Geography: Attributed to Turkey

Medium: Wool (warp, weft and pile); symmetrically knotted pile

Dimensions: Rug: H. 69 1/4 in. (175.9 cm)
W. 48 3/4 in. (123.8 cm)

Classification: Textiles-Rugs