AH 1309 (1892 AD) dated Derbend prayer rug, 145 x 65 cm, published Ian Bennet's Oriental Rugs, Volume I, plate no: 427

This rug is dated 1309 A.H. (A.D. 1891/2). It is unusually long and narrow for a prayer rug of this group and would seem to be coarser than most. Its bright colours (the pinks may be synthetic) resemble those on another late rug illustrated in Ian Bennett's The Book of Oriental Carpets and Rugs (p. 102), which is dated 1331 A.H. (A.D. 1912/3); the latter, however, is better drawn and is also of interest in that it has within the arch the odd motif seen in the same position on our Kuba prayer rug no. 326. In drawing, colour and in the handling of minor borders this piece can be related to a number of Kuba rugs.