EAST CAUCASUS, DATED AH 1282 / 1865-6 AD

The design of this rug derives from 18th century prototypes. The cruciform comprising four radiating palmettes can clearly be seen in an 18th century carpet in Turkey (Şerare Yetkin, Early Caucasian Carpets in Turkey, London, 1978, vol.1, pl.53). An example published by Schürmann, very similar in all details to the present lot but on a rich red ground, bears the date AH 1204 (1789-80 AD) which would make it surprisingly early, (U. Schürmann, Caucasian Rugs, Cologne, 1964, no.65, pp.194-5; and Ausstellung Kaukasische Teppiche, Frankfurt, 1962, no.99). A comparable red ground long rug, bearing a date 1310AH (1892-93), which seems more plausible, is illustrated by Bennett, (I. Bennett & A. Bassoul, Rugs of the Caucasus, Beirut, 2003, pl.81). A very closely related but undated indigo ground kelleh was sold in these Rooms, 11 February 1998, Battilossi Tappeti d'Antiquariato, lot 108 and which later sold in Sotheby's New York, 7 April 1999, lot 41.