|
The Lotto pattern is characterized as an endless repeat
arabesque, a yellow vine like structure on a red ground.
Although the pattern seems to have an anthropomorphic quality,
which some carpet historians have described as three "birds"
with "eyes" and "wings", others have attributed the star and
cross octagonal geometry with symbolic religious significance,
both Christian and Islamic. The carpet historian Charles Grant
Ellis divided the the field patterns of the Lotto carpets into
three styles --the "Anatolian", the "Kilim" and the
"Ornamented". The "Anatolian" field (shown
above) is
considered to be both the earliest and the most refined of this
pattern's development. |
|
The major borders most often found on Lotto carpets, from
left to right, include the "Kufic", "Cartouche" and "Cloud
Band". The Kufic border is generally found in the earliest
carpets. |
