EAST CAUCASUS, CIRCA 1860

The design in the field of this rug is particularly clearly drawn. A similar sized rug with a later, less clearly delineated version of this design was included in the Davide Halevim sale in these Rooms, 14 February 2001, lot 28. As Burns notes in his caption to the present piece, the yellow ground is expensive to produce, particularly on this scale. It must have been a specific commission, with the two figures in the lower medallion having a special symbolism. Two smaller rugs have the same design and appeared on the German market some time ago. One was on a white ground, (Hali 57, p.180, review of Krausse Teppiche exhibition; Herbert Ostler and Ägidius Geisselmann, Die Teppichkunst des Orients und die Kunst des Moderne, Munich, 1980, p.51), the second was a yellow ground prayer rug which also clearly bears the dates 1275 and 1276 (1858-60 AD).