Stefano Ionescu
Dr Stefano Ionescu is an independent scholar on Oriental carpets, specifically Anatolian rugs, starting with those which survived in Transylvania. He published a comprehensive study, Antique Ottoman Rugs in Transylvania, including the entire collection of the Black Church and the most important examples from the churches and museums inside and outside Romania. In addition, Stefano is producing in Sultanhanı high quality replicas of original Transylvanian rugs, employing hand carded and hand spun wool, natural dyes and traditional techniques.
Recent Studies on the ‘Transylvanian’ Rug Group
‘Transylvanian’ rugs are the largest group of 17th century Anatolian prayer rugs. A full classification of the group, based on a recent study of over 800 examples worldwide will be presented, including two ‘Transylvanian’ rugs in The al-Sabah Collection. Ionescu will discuss the origin of the designs of single-niche and double-niche ‘Transylvanian’ rugs and see how the formats evolved. Then he will present the origin of the design of the fascinating Ottoman Court Prayer rugs with columns and a group of ‘Transylvanian’ rugs with horseshoe arch. The talk will end with a discussion of the Replica project’s role in preserving the skills and techniques involved in creating early ‘Transylvanian’ rugs.