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A KARABAGH PRAYER RUG
SOUTH CAUCASUS, DATED AH 1333/1915 AD
Price Realized $10,625
Sale Information
Christie's
Sale 2060
Oriental Rugs and Carpets
8 December 2008
New York, Rockefeller Plaza
Lot Notes
Lot Description
A KARABAGH PRAYER RUG
South Caucasus, Dated AH 1333/1915 AD
Approximately 8 ft. 1 in. x 4 ft. 4 in. (246 cm. x 132 cm.)
The cypress tree "prayer" format employed by the present lot is unusual and
its design was "probably inspired by eighteenth-century silk ikats
(resist-dyed textiles) or velvets from Central Asia and Persia" (R. Kaffel,
Caucasian Prayer Rugs, 1998, p. 68). Rugs of this type have been attributed
to other areas of the Caucasus as well. In Hali 54, Connoisseur's Choice: A
Tree of Life Rug, Gérard Boëly discusses an example from his collection
which he notes is probably from the Shirvan area and that employs a similar
border to the present lot. Although the present example may not have been
used for prayer, rugs of these types have largely assumed this
classification because of their prayer format made by the directional
cypress tree and niche.
For related examples, please see Anonymous, Sotheby's London, 27 April 1994,
Lot 16 and Anonymous, Sotheby's New York, 11 June 2008, Lot 19.
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