 After completing work on the Dolmabahçe Palace, the Ottoman sultans used to give Hereke carpets as gifts to selected visiting royalties, noblemen and statesmen.It was not until 1890 that some traders in Istanbul were allowed to sell some of the pieces made at Hereke.With the end of the Ottoman Empire the production of Hereke carpets was restricted until the middle of the 20th century when some master-weavers in Hereke began once more to produce the carpets in continuation of the tradition of the Ottoman palace carpets.