Kula (Anatolian Islamic textile style)

Style of textiles, particularly floor coverings (often prayer rugs), handwoven in Kula, a town east of Izmir in western Turkey, popular with collectors in the 19th century and beyond. The designs are often characterized by a low, straight-sided arch (indicating the direction of Mecca), columnar sides of the prayer niche often comprising broad, ribbonlike pendant forms, and often having elaborate central motifs. Early Kula prayer rugs have strong reds and blues, but in most later examples the red has been exchanged for an assortment of muddy browns and yellows.