SOUTH CAUCASUS, CIRCA 1850

There are a small number of Chelaberd rugs that mark the intermediate stage between the sunburst carpets of 18th century Karabagh and the Chelaberd rugs of the second half of the 19th century, this example is a close descendant of the earlier group. Comparable examples are published in Eberhart Herrmann, Seltene Orientteppiche, Vol.IV, Munich, 1982, p.127 and Serare Yetkin, Early Caucasian Carpets in Turkey, Vol. II, London, 1978, pl.154. Whilst other examples do occasionally have animals and figures woven into the field design, the present rug has the unusual feature of the train of animals and figures crossing the rug above and below the sunburst medallion.