Reconstruction of a rare 19th century antique Kuba Afshan Ugah rug with a dark blue ground

Reconstruction of a rare 19th century antique Kuba Afshan Ugah rug with a dark blue ground
CODE: KUAFS06
Size (metric): 161x210cm
Size (ft): 5'3"x6'10"
Area: 3.38 m2
Density: 175 000 knots per square meter, totally ~ 600 000 knots
Pile height: 0.4 cm
End finish: five rows of decorative knotted meshwork
Weaving period: 3 months

Colors: medium madder red, Persian blue, old purple/mauve, midnight blue, gold yellow, forest green, variegated soft green (main border), ivory, dark brown.
Dyes: 100% natural dyes: madder, weld (Reseda Luteola), woad, indigo, pomegranate skins, walnut husks, natural brown sheep wool, natural ivory sheep wool - all are eco-friendly and non-toxic
Materials: all wool - handcarded and handspun wool for pile, wool warps (natural ivory and brown twist) and two shots of ivory wool wefts

Weavers: woven by three sisters in a village near Baku
Handwoven in Azerbaijan

Design: The indigo blue central field comprises 25 serrated vine leaves and stepped lozenges containing the endless knot motif. They are arranged in 8 staggered horizontal rows and in three vertial columns. In between, there are various archaic and tribal motifs including combs, human being, animal and bird figures. Dated 1436

The main border carries the Kufic/Kufesque pattern. The word ‘Kufic’ or ‘Kufi’ refers to an earliest form of Arabic calligraphy and it consists of a modified form of the old Nabataean script. The script was called ‘Kufi’ because it was developed in the end of the 7th century in Kufah, Iraq. It was the main script used to copy Qur'ans until the 11th century. Originally, the script was angular and staccato, but later a floral Kufi was developed, and then several other varieties, including foliated Kufi, knotted Kufi, and square Kufi. Eventually, it seems, the word ‘Kufic’ came to denote any form of ornamentation based on calligraphy—a word art—including both highly decorative scripts and purely geometric, abstract ones.

Seljuk rug fragment carries an early version of Kufic border pattern, 13th century, Konya, Turkey. TIEM.

A carpet with a pseudo-kufic border is depicted in this Jalayirid manuscript, XIV century, Tabriz school, From "Kalila wa Dimna"

A small pattern Holbein carpet fragment, (XVI century) carries a Kufic pattern border. Berlin Museum

Turkic archer, XVI century manuscript

Endless knot motif - symbolizing how everything is connected to each other in the Universe. It is also believed to be an old ward against the fixed gaze of the evil eye.

Kochak motif - the word derives from the Turkic word koç for the male sheep, the ram. Different variations of the motif are used in Anatolian, Caucasian and Central Asian rugs. The design is a derivative of the ram’s horn motif.


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