Antique Shirvan Prayer rug, Shirvan Region, Azerbaijan. 2nd half 19th century. 96 x 132 cm, 3'2" x 4'4".

published Ralph Kaffel's Caucasian Prayer rugs

Caucasian weavers were able to take the simplest elements, such as adjacent stripes, and turn them into a variety of interesting and intricate designs. Striped rugs were woven mostly in Shirvan, Daghestan, Kuba, Genje and Karabagh. Sometimes only a small number of colours were employed, as in the red, white and blue diagonals of this piece; at other times an extensive palette would be used vertical stripes were rarely used in Shirvan weavings, being more typical of Karabagh and Daghestan.
This rug is quite similar to one illustrated in Schurrmann "Caucasian Rugs" (plate 74), although with a totally different border. In his commentary on that rug, Schurmann points to the influence of the Genje districts and notes the care that has been taken to run the diagonal stripes in the opposite direction on the right side above the prayer gable - an arrangement also seen in this piece. An example virtual identical to the present rug, assigned to Kuba, was published as 38 in Herrmann "Seltene Orientteppiche".