EAST CAUCASUS, THIRD QUARTER 19TH CENTURY

This sileh carpet is woven using the weft-wrapping technique known as soumac. Its design is characterised by sixteen large alternating yellow and indigo S-shaped motifs arranged in rows of four that represent highly stylised, mythological dragons. Typically they are displayed with protruding, hooded eyes above and a long, thin tail beneath, with the main body filled with small Z-motifs which represent the scales on its body. Sileh carpets appear to have been made in various areas of the eastern and southern Caucasus although their exact distinguishing criteria have not been established to date. The red ground has not been left empty by the weaver but is densely filled with further colourful details of grouped angular motifs that resemble amulets and small crosses that exhibit the full wealth of her design repertoire. Similar examples are illustrated by Alberto Boralevi, Sumakh, Flat-woven carpets of the Caucasus, Firenze, 1986, pl.6, p.42 and John Eskenazi, Kilim, Milan, 1980, pl.29, p.78