Kuba rugs and carpets>Caucasian rugs>Oriental rugs>Kuba Shahnazarli flatweave kilim

Ref. No: 0407-085

Group: Kuba

Sub-Group: Shah-nazarli

Origin Country: AZERBAIJAN, Village Shahnazarli (12kms northwest of Devechi)

Historical/General Information: The kilims are lighter in weight than pile fabrics, they may be more convenient for some aspects of the nomadic people. Since many of them are made by techniques simpler than pile knotting, they predate the pile carpet. This is confirmed by a number of well preserved kilim fragments from Pazyryk in Altai Mountains, (with estimates of age ranging around the 4th and 5th centuries B.C.), which show a variety of techniques and geometric motifs strikingly suggestive of some woven in the recent past. Kilim fragments uncovered by Sir Mark Aurel Stein in Eastern Turkestan apparently date from the third or fourth century A.D., and the early first millennium Coptic Kilims from Egypt show a considerable technical sophistication.

There are also a number of kilims at the Xinjiang Museum and the Archaeological Institute in Urumchi (Eastern Turkestan). From the extremely dry and hot sands of Turpan area and points west along the fringes of the Takla Makan Desert, a number of burial places have been found in which the human remains are remarkably preserved, along with the textiles that accompanied them. Among these are kilim fragments that may be as much as 4000 years old, along with other textiles in surprisingly sophisticated structures. Quite probably, the kilim and related fabrics were developed during the Neolithic Period, and the oldest surviving fragments at times show design elemetns startlingly reminiscent of more recent work. This should not be surprising, as many flatweave techniques impose certain limitations of design. It is quite probable that many of the technique-driven motifs that one recognizes in recent work have changed little over the centuries.

This kilim was woven in Kuba Region (north-eastern part of the country, mountainous area) in 1970s.

Art Analysis: The main element of this carpet is octagonal zigzag pattern gols - medallions.

These medallions can be repeated according to the general size of the carpet. If it is with one "gol" they call it "tekgöl", if there are two medallions, it is called "Jut-göllu". The carpets with more than two medallions are called chokh-göllu.

The colorful yarns which are stitched over the edge lines of the medallion, give the 3D appearance to the carpet.

Size: 210cmx363cm

Area: 7.62m2

AGE: 1970s

Condition: good

Technical Analysis: This kilim made on the loom with the slip-tapestry technique. Warps and decorative supplementary yarns are the combination of mainly wool and cotton. Wefts are made of cotton.

Researched and prepared by Vugar Dadashov

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