Chelaberd / Sunburst Karabagh (Adler Kazak) rug
CODE: KRCHL17
Size (metric): 143x192cm
Size (ft): 4'8"x6'3"
Area: 2.74 m²
Density: 90 000 knots per square meter, totally ~ 250 000 knots
Weaving period: 3 months

Colors: madder red, Persian blue, midnight blue, sky blue, navy blue, gold yellow, aubergine, variegated lawn green, natural ivory, natural brown.
Dyes: 100% natural dyes: madder, weld (Reseda Luteola), indigo, pomegranate skins, walnut husks, natural brown sheep wool, natural ivory sheep wool - all are eco-friendly and non-toxic
Materials: Handcarded and handspun wool for pile, ivory wool warps and madder dyed red wefts
Handwoven in Azerbaijan

Design: The design of the present example belongs to an exceptionally rare group of Chelaberd rugs. Four known antique examples which comprise this group and which spawned thousands of copies in the second half of the 19th century are

1. In the Victoria and Albert Museum (HALI, vol.,3, no.2, p.99, fig.7)

2. The red Herrmann/Bortz/Fernandes (H/B/F) rug (Herrmann, Seltene Orientteppiche IV, Munich, 1982, no.44, pp.146-7; HALI vol.5, no.2, p.208, pl.7; The Bortz Collection, Sotheby's London, 29 May 1998, lot 13; HALI 112, September/October 2000, p.141)

3. The blue ground starburst rug (Antichi Tappeti dell'Anatolia e del Caucaso, exhibition, Turin, reviewed Hali 33, January/March 1987, p.58; HALI 35, July/September 1987, gallery advertisement p.XV (Clive Rogers and Arky Robbins); Herrmann, Eberhart: Seltene Orientteppiche IX, Munich, 1987, no.25, pp.66-7; Sotheby's New York, 14 December 1995, lot 58; HALI 85, March/April 1996 auction price guide p.135; HALI 112, September/October 2000, p.141).

4. The red starburst medallion rug formerly in the James D. Burns Collection sold at Christie's 18th October 2001, lot 277.

The Liambei rug is close to the H/B/F and the Burns examples