|
251cm x 126cm / 8'3" x 4'2", Late 19th century, Knots: 50 (v) x 31 (h) =
1,550 / dm2.
A fantastic Shirvan Surahani 'garden' rug with a shield pattern with green
and white latch-hooked diamonds within red octagons. Peter F. Stone calls
this shield pattern the "turret design type" which, apart from the Shirvan
area, is also to be "found on rugs attributed to the Kazak, Daghestan and
Kuba districts" (on Rugs of the Caucasus: Structure and Design, Greenleaf
Co., 1984, pp. 156). When this design appears on Kuba rugs Ulrich
Schurmann calls it the "Ordutch-Konagend" pattern (on Caucasian Rugs,
Poolesville, 1990, pp. 278).The centre of each of the three middle
latch-hooked diamonds has a Lesghi star, a rather unusual feature. Two
additional Lesghi stars are placed at the corners of the central field's
top. On another Shirvan Surahani ?garden' rug with a shield pattern with
latch-hooked diamonds within octagons Ian Bennett write that "these
latch-hook diamonds within the outer octagons are attractive features not
previously encountered on rugs of this type" (on Oriental Rugs - Volume 1
Caucasian, Suffolk, UK, 1981, pp. 259). This rug's colours are uncommonly
bold and balanced. The main border is a beautiful development of the
traditional "leaf-and-calyx" border design. The two darker floral borders
around it suggest a more Northern attribution (Kuba). But the fact that
the main motif of this rug may have been made in places hundreds of
kilometers away suggests that several motifs were used outside their
original place/village.
Literature - See somewhat similar rugs on: Ian Bennett, Oriental Rugs -
Volume 1 Caucasian, Suffolk, UK, 1981, plates 277-279, 283, 333, 336;
Ulrich Schurmann, Caucasian Rugs, Poolesville, 1990, plate 105; E.
Gans-Ruedin, Caucasian Carpets, Thames and Hudson, London, 1986, pp.
194-195 & 282-283; Murray Eiland Jr., Oriental Rugs - A New Comprehensive
Guide, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1981, illustr. 253.
Jewels Of The Caucasus
 |
