Transcaucasian Rug with Palmettes

295 x 115 cm (9' 8" x 3' 9")
Caucasus, early 19th century
Condition: very good for its age, mostly good pile, scattered small repairs, lower end slightly incomplete
Warp: wool, weft: wool, pile: wool

This colourful runner belongs to a small group of carpets that closely follow and reinterpret Azerbaijani pieces of the
17th and 18th centuries. These may be Dragon, Floral, or Harshang carpets. In this auction, we are offering, under
lot number 42, a Harshang carpet with complex ornamentation.
From such a piece, the weaver of this carpet has selected individual motifs and rearranged them beautifully according to her own ideas. On a warm red ground, she presents the palmettes, rosettes, and floral octagons of the Harshang design, surrounding them with small motifs drawn from her rural everyday life. We see birds, quadrupeds, geometric forms, amulets, and other small motifs, scattered loosely yet symmetrically across the field.
The border, in turn, is taken directly from the classical Dragon carpets, though rendered here with a greater variety of colours. In one of our first auctions, on 16 September 2014, we were able to offer a nearly identical piece, which differed only by the addition of two Memling güls at the upper end, included to make the carpet slightly longer. Another example is published in "Alte Teppiche aus dem Orient" (1980), Gewerbemuseum Basel, page 63.
The cheerful polychromy and the playful combination of classical motifs give this weaving its extraordinary charm.

Estimate: € 8000 - 12000