AZERBAIJAN, SECOND HALF 19TH CENTURY

This expertly executed verneh carpet is woven using the weft-wrapping technique known as soumac, and is characterised by large alternating ivory and indigo S-shaped motifs that represent highly stylised dragons. Typically they are displayed with protruding, hooded eyes above and a long, thin tail beneath, with the main body filled with a small repetitive motif of which there are three main variants. The first, as seen in the present lot, is based on a series of small Z-motifs which Ian Bennett categorises as being of 'zoomorphic' design (I. Bennett, Oriental Rugs Vol. 1: Caucasian, Woodbridge, 1981, pl. 478) noting that ‘such rugs were considerably rarer than the non-zoomorphic types’. Two other filler variants include an hourglass motif, similar to those depicted in the ground of the present lot, as well as stylised tree formations.

The archaic stylised serrated forms, seen on the upper bend of the dragon are symbolic of 'fan-tailed birds ', an interim form of which can be seen in the example in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Joseph V. McMullan, 1971, Accession No: 1971.263.5 (https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/452312?searchField=All&sortBy=Relevance&deptids=14&ft=carpet&offset=240&rpp=80&pos=300) where the appendage on the backs of the dragons in the Caucasian 'Dragon' carpets have been simplified to a double arrowhead. Other zoomorphic verni include a fragment in the Victoria & Albert museum, London (Gans-Ruedin, Caucasian Carpets, pl.325) and J. D. Burns, The Caucasus, no.48. Here the weaver has depicted all of the dragons, including the shortened part-dragons in the upper row, facing in the same direction, with two bitonal dragons in the lower left row. Similar examples are illustrated by Alberto Boralevi, Sumakh, Flat-woven carpets of the Caucasus, Firenze, 1986, pl.6, p.42 and John Eskenazi, Kilim, Milan, 1980, pl.29, p.78.