Kayseri, in central Asia Minor in Turkey, has been a famous carpet producing center for about 150 years. The woolen carpets woven there were of no real significance under any standards. On the contrary, many of the silk rugs created, especially from the end of the 19th century, up until the 1970’s are both well made and attractive. One very small group of such silk rugs has a design of multiple linear prayer rugs, classified under the general name “Saf”. Originally, Saf rugs were used for people praying side by side, each one occupying one small prayer rug, which was part of the design of the whole carpet they shared.
This particular silk Saf contains 8 small prayer rugs, each one having a different colour ground with similar design decoration, as to give the rug its uniform, very pleasing appearance.
Although not a lot of Safs were made as compared to all other types of carpets, still they are not considered a rarity, mainly because of their stereotype kind of design, and also because it is not the most practical shape of carpet to use.
Nevertheless, some silk pieces like the present one can be highly useful, given a suitable space to show their decorative capacity.
