Osman Hamdi Bey’s Flowers in a Vase painting which bears his signature and the date 1876 is his single known still life. The china porcelain vase decorated with peony and peacock patterns sitting on a partly visible wooden table and with dry ears of grain constitutes the painting’s center. To the right of the vase, there is a blue cap with a red tassel, standing against a stack of books on a piece of fabric partly hanging down the table. To the left of the vase there are a few ears of grain and a shallow copper vessel with a narrow beak of Mamluk origin. A striking feature is the Uşak carpet hanging from upper left side of the painting.
Depicting oriental carpets in paintings became popular in Europe in the 14th century. These paintings are a valuable source for Middle Eastern carpet researchers. The names of European artists who depicted carpets frequently, such as Lotto, Holbein, Ghirlandaio and Crivelli are used to describe different carpet types. The presence of these carpets in the paintings was related to wealth, power and sanctity while also defining the level of education and high social and economic status of the depicted figure.
Osman Hamdi Bey also uses carpets frequently in his paintings. Although his use generally differs from European artists, the composition in the Flowers in a Vase is similar to their paintings. Osman Hamdi Bey generally depicts carpets in his paintings of the interior and sometimes in compositions of outer spaces. There are not different carpet types in his paintings, the artist has always depicted the same group of carpets from his own collection. The carpet in this painting though, is not one of them and is not seen in any other of his paintings.
