EAST CAUCASUS, EARLY 19TH CENTURY

The present lot is a variant of a group of east Caucasian flat-weaves that take their design stimulus from the so-called 'dragon' carpets woven in Armenia from the 16th to the 18th century. In his research on the subject of soumacs, Alberto Boralevi concludes that there is such uniformity between the various types produced in the Caucasus, that he is lead to believe that they were likely woven in the same area, if not the same village of Kusary, located in the foothills of the Greater Caucasus, (A. Boralevi, Sumakh: Flat-woven carpets of the Caucasus, Firenze, 1986, p.27). This theory is reinforced by the limited number of border variants that can be found which amount to just six. One of the least common of those identified is the S-border, as seen in the present rug, which is particularly archaic in appearance. Despite the apparent wear, the present rug displays a particularly rich palette of colours and the design is woven to an unusually small format.