Here's a mystery rug for you to try your hand at attribution. No structural information will be provided, as that would make it much too easy.

First one to get it right (approximate date and geographic origin) gets a free 1 year subscription to Turkotek.

Steve Price

This is a real stumper, but there are a few subtle clues:
I smell a RAT.
You will notice that the animals that are being ridden here are not horses. They are actually rodents. Rodents of the Mice variety. I believe that this is known as a rare, antique Mouse Rug, circa 2001.

Patrick Weiler

It's a genuine Ataturkish rug.

Or Maybe a Chausheku, Rumenian rug because I can see all the trees knocked down in order to build him his palace. The guy loved the open space he's enjoying now so reluctantly.

Think it's Kaisery.
They love the green color. The sort of green my face looks like after I had a sort of party with to much to....etc.etc...

If it isn't a Kaisery, could be Albanian to, but then the headfashion would be different.

Don't think Iran would allow this rug to be exported. So it's not Iran.

Who, what did I do? There goes my epertise....

Pycckiï? 3to koBëp rpycthoe.
No, the style doesn't fit in Russian 5 years production planning. Think the warps are wool. They prefered cotton.

It's a Kaisery.

If I'm wrong, I'll give up posting on Turkotek for a year, it's a prommis, and I will never bother you again with my pathetic Russian.
But if I'm right,
buckle up and sit tight....

Best regards,
Vincent

Stephen

This is just an interim report, I will tell all there is to know about this piece in another day or two.

Vincent, sorry good buddy, it isn't a Kaiseri. But please don't abandon Turkotek just because you were mistaken. It's OK to drop the Russian, though.

Regards,

Steve Price

Thoughts on the mystery rug:

Although it looks Persian, I don't think it is. It appears to be a very small rug, probably made for the tourist market. I suspect Egypt, circa 1975.

Wendel

Wendel is on the right track when he says he thinks it's small. The size is about 6 inches by 9 inches.

The image is a direct can of my mouse pad. I received it as a gift last Christmas, so I imagine it was made some time during 2000. I'm not sure where it was made, but most such goods sold in the USA are made in China nowadays, so that's probably where this one came from. I don't normally permit recommending dealers on our boards, so you can take this simply as information on where these things can be bought: I know that the shop at Washington's Textile Museum has them.

Patrick got it right, although he played along by making his answer - the first one in the thread - fairly obtuse. He wins the prize, a one-year free subscription to TurkoTek. He can log on as often as he wants to, at no charge whatsoever. This is not transferrable, and he is responsible for any tax liability this incurs to him.

Since he got it so quickly, I am adding another prize (as though that one wasn't enough!) to Patrick's winnings. It is the URL for a top secret informational web site. NOBODY EXCEPT PATRICK IS AUTHORIZED TO VIEW THAT SITE. THIS MEANS YOU!!!
http://www.shibumi.org/eoti.htm

Congratulations, Patrick. Well done!

Steve Price

Doesn't the mousepad show any signs at all about the rug they display?

You're showing a picture from a picture!

Oops, I'm out for a year......but I do congratulate Patrick on his victory.:*

Best regards,
Vincent

The mouse pad actually has a pile surface and real fringe (although I am sure there are no natural materials in the fibers or the dyes), it isn't just a picture of a rug. There are, perhaps, 5 or 10 different varieties of rugs available in mouse pad format. I have another, probably inspired by a Tekke main carpet, but with a single column of 8 Tekke guls in the center. If there are real rugs from which these were copied, the mouse pads don't come with an explanation or documentation.

I understand from Wendel that the next ICOC (in Washington, 2003) will have an exhibition of mouse pad rugs. Requires little space, timely, we can put all the light on them that we want, and we might make a little money selling reproductions to the participants.

Regards,

Steve Price

Thank you so much for your generous prize!
I wish to magnaniMOUSEly donate the entire subscription to my favorite CHARITY, Rug Users Get Serious (R.U.G.S.).
This charity is a little known and underfunded group devoted to helping unwitting rug buyers by assuring the purchase of only meaningful and valuable rugs and NOT ugly, crass hideous rugs. They have a collection (stored at my house, incidentally) of the crass, commercial, garish rugs that one should avoid.
I am sure their upcoming book, Crap and Dreck from Northwest Collections, will be available for purchase at the next ICOC (proceeds to support R.U.G.S.)
I wish to thank all of my supporters, my early rug teachers, the thousands of unnamed rug sellers and weavers toiling in obscurity (except for the occaisional undercover TV report) for their time and help. And of course, thanks to my mother, who actually had a couple of rag rugs in the house when I was a child. She wouldn't have any stinkers (rugs that is) underfoot.

Your humble honoree,

Patrick Weiler