SOUTH EAST CAUCASUS, CIRCA 1870

This very finely woven small rug is one of a very small group, almost all of which have ivory fields, a number of which are longer runners, but all of which share a similar field design and narrow width. Three others in the group have been sold at auction (Rippon Boswell, Wiesbaden, 15 May 1999, lot 71 (previously at Sotheby's London 14 October 1998, lot 13, unillustrated); Skinner, Boston, 20 April 1996; Phillips, London, 30 January 1990, lot 15). Another was with Herrmann (Eberhart: Seltene Orientteppiche IX, no.33, pp.82-3) while another is in the Burns Collection (James D.: The Caucasus, Traditions in Weaving, Seattle, 1987, illustrated on p.13). The design is in fact the triple overlaid lattice of the vase carpets, but reduced to its purest geometry. That element of the geometry is clearer in this rug than in any of the other examples, assisted by the choice of contrasting colours for the tendrils.