Shirvan Lamp (Lampaly) kilim, Azerbaijan>Shirvan rugs and carpet>Caucasian rugs

Ref. No: 0407-030

Group: Shirvan

Sub-Group: Kilim

Origin Country: AZERBAIJAN, Shamakhy

General Information: Kilims are lighter in weight than pile fabrics. Since many of them are made by techniques simpler than pile knotting, they predate 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, kilim and related fabrics were developed during the Neolithic Period, and the oldest surviving fragments at times show design elements 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.

Size: 191cm x 242cm

Area: 4.62m2

Age: circa 1940

Condition: very 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.

Comments: There is a similar Shirvan kilim in The State Museum of Azerbaijan Carpet and Applied Art.

Researched and prepared by Vugar Dadashov

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