SOUTH CAUCASUS, DATED AH 1302/1884-5 AD

This unusual Kazak prayer rug belongs to a small group of south Caucasian pieces displaying a large polygon motif (here, a hexagon) surrounded by smaller geometric forms beneath a geometric mihrab. Although the cartouche bears the date 1212 (1795), it is more plausible that the date to left of the cartouche, 1302 (1884-5), is more accurate.
For a similar Kazak prayer rug, please see R. Kaffel, Caucasian Prayer Rugs, London, 1998, p. 64, no. 21. For a related Karabagh example, please see ibid., p. 76, no. 30.