Lot Essay
Warp: wool, light beige-tan, natural, 1 strand plied with wool, medium brown, natural, 1 strand, Z2S overall
Weft: a. wool, dyed light red brown, Z2S, 2-5 shoots alternating equally wavy; or b. wool, dyed blue, natural, Z2S, as a.; a few partial yellow wool Z2 shoots
Pile: wool, Z2, symmetric knots, no warp depression, H6-7xV5
Sides: 2 bundles of 2 body warps banded in blue and red Z2 wool, or all blue
Ends: top, 3/8in. weft faced Z2 wool blue plainweave; bottom, not original
Colors: canary, ivory, dark blue, aubergine, rust, medium blue, medium green, brown-black
Star Kazaks have long been among the most coveted of all Caucasian rugs to modern day collectors. Their desirability, most likely caused by their powerful design and their bold, varied palette, is heightened by their rarity. The present rug can be classified as Star Kazak type Group D as discussed by Hali magazine in 1980 (see "Star Kazaks," Hali, Vol. 3, No. 1, 1980, pp. 17-26). This group shares many common elements, the first being the dimensions of the rug of length:width as 1:2. Other similar details are the interior hooked motifs in the red star octagons, the interior brackets of the central star, the aubergine arrows and the reciprocal triangle minor borders in red and blue. The main border of a hooked lozenge containing four "C" shapes is also the same on all the rugs of this group and is an aberration of the "crab" device border.
The present example closely resembles a Star Kazak from the James F. Ballard Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, (Dimand and Mailey, Oriental Rugs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1973, fig. 240). The only difference between this piece and the Ballard rug are the minor secondary elements such as the diamonds on the field and in the interior of the arrows seen here in our example. Another close example from the same group was in the possession of Peter Bausback (Hali, Vol. 1, No. 4, 1979, p.60). They share in common the vertical rows of enclosed star motifs down the sides of the field, as well as the small diamonds which fill the field and hooked devices.
Weft: a. wool, dyed light red brown, Z2S, 2-5 shoots alternating equally wavy; or b. wool, dyed blue, natural, Z2S, as a.; a few partial yellow wool Z2 shoots
Pile: wool, Z2, symmetric knots, no warp depression, H6-7xV5
Sides: 2 bundles of 2 body warps banded in blue and red Z2 wool, or all blue
Ends: top, 3/8in. weft faced Z2 wool blue plainweave; bottom, not original
Colors: canary, ivory, dark blue, aubergine, rust, medium blue, medium green, brown-black
Star Kazaks have long been among the most coveted of all Caucasian rugs to modern day collectors. Their desirability, most likely caused by their powerful design and their bold, varied palette, is heightened by their rarity. The present rug can be classified as Star Kazak type Group D as discussed by Hali magazine in 1980 (see "Star Kazaks," Hali, Vol. 3, No. 1, 1980, pp. 17-26). This group shares many common elements, the first being the dimensions of the rug of length:width as 1:2. Other similar details are the interior hooked motifs in the red star octagons, the interior brackets of the central star, the aubergine arrows and the reciprocal triangle minor borders in red and blue. The main border of a hooked lozenge containing four "C" shapes is also the same on all the rugs of this group and is an aberration of the "crab" device border.
The present example closely resembles a Star Kazak from the James F. Ballard Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, (Dimand and Mailey, Oriental Rugs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1973, fig. 240). The only difference between this piece and the Ballard rug are the minor secondary elements such as the diamonds on the field and in the interior of the arrows seen here in our example. Another close example from the same group was in the possession of Peter Bausback (Hali, Vol. 1, No. 4, 1979, p.60). They share in common the vertical rows of enclosed star motifs down the sides of the field, as well as the small diamonds which fill the field and hooked devices.