SOUTH EAST ANATOLIA OR SOUTH CAUCASUS, LATE 18TH CENTURY

Located in the various mountain ranges between the warring Ottoman Empire and Persia, the proficient Kurdish weavers saw heightened productivity in weaving in the last half of the eighteenth and the first quarter of the nineteenth century, despite their embittered neighbours (James D. Burns, Antique Rugs of Kurdistan, 2002, p.13). This unusual village rug contains a number of features, including red double-wefts and natural wool warps, which are consistent with the techniques of the Kurdistan weavers. Frequently used motifs in Kurdish rugs are the octagonal abyss medallion (a symbol of Kurdish mythology), small amulets, as well as the reciprocal trefoil border (Burns, op.cit., pp.27-29). The Three Abyss Medallion runner from circa 1800 as well as the Large Medallion carpet (second half seventeenth century), both illustrated in Burns (op.cit., pp.92-93, pl.23; pp.184-85, pl.56), have very similar medallions to our rug, but lack the hooked corner ornamentations making them more solid in appearance. The eighteenth century Hakkari long carpet (op.cit., p.190-191, pl.58) shares the colours and the spacing of the main motifs surrounded by similar minor forms, as well as the reciprocal trefoil border, however the overall execution appears much less refined than in our carpet