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14
Southwestern Caucasus
Prayer Rug, dated 1827
This prayer rug belongs to a rare group
believed to have appeared in the early
decades of the 19th
century. There are apparently two design variations: one that
adheres closely to the format seen here,1
and another, often with silk wefts, that features a
rigidly square white medallion bordered by
hooked devices.2 Like its
counterparts, this rug is dated; its
Islamic date reads 1243 (1827 A.D.).
Despite the missing outer border on the
sides, this weaving typifies the quaint charm and
gentle hues of the best early 19th-century
Caucasian pieces. The main border design also
appears in 15th- and 16th-century western
Anatolian "Holbein" carpets,3
and in later Turkmen tribal weaving,4
including the Chodor bridal trapping (cat.
no. 41).
M.H.
1. Compare Lefevre & Partners, Rare Oriental
Carpets, auction sale catalogue, July 9, 1976, lot 35,
and Oriental Rug Review, 10, no.
1 (Oct.-Nov. 1989), p. 53.
2. See Jon Thompson, Carpet Magic: The Art of
Carpets from the Tents, Cottages and Workshops of Asia,
London, Barbican Art Gallery, 1983, p. 125, and Skinner,
Oriental Rugs and Carpets, auction sale catalogue,
June 4, 1989, lot 155.
3. See Serare Yetkin, Historical Turkish Carpets,
Istanbul, Tiirkiye Bankasi Cultural Publications, 1981,
p. 48, and Balpinar and Hirsch, Carpets, pl.
16.
4. Elena Tzareva, Rugs &
Carpets from Central Asia: the Russian
Collections, Leningrad, Aurora Art
Publishers and Alien Lane/Penguin, 1984, pp. 26, 33,
35, 55, 57, 76,
77, 90, 93.
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Structural Analysis
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SIZE: |
62
1/4 X 42 1/2 in. (157.5x108 cm.) |
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WARP: |
wool, Z3S;
ivory |
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WEFT: |
cotton, z
x l; ivory; silk x I; ivory |
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PILE: |
wool, zzs,
symmetrical knots, h. 9, v. 10, 90
k/sq. in.; ivory, dark brown (mostly corroded), dark
red, red (abrash}, pink, gold, light gold, green, dark
blue, blue, light blue, purple |
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ENDS: |
cut |
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SIDES: |
cut |
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