A ‘seccade’ (prayer rug) from Mucur, 19th century.

In Mucur (Central-Anatolia, 20 km west of Kırşehir) - almost exclusively – prayer carpets are knotted. The knotting is medium fine (1200-2400 knots per square decimetre); the pile is soft, shining wool. Typical of the designs of Mucur carpets are the interlaid prayer niches. The main border is often build-up in a casket-like way, and filled with geometric and floral patterns. The formats of the pieces – mostly ‘ceyreks’ (= ‘quarter’, meaning smaller than medium-sized) – are frequently distinctly broad, like this one. The oldest Mucur carpets in collections date from the second half of the 18th century.

Correspondent: J.M.Criel, Antwerpen.
Source: ‘Oriental Rugs, volume 4: Turkish’ (Zipper & Fritzsche) .