SOUTH CAUCASUS, MID-19TH CENTURY

The design of flaming palmettes enclosing stylised peony blossoms, was coined the Harshang pattern by Charles Grant Ellis but is also known as the 'Joshugan', or 'Shah Abbas' design. (S Yetkin, Early Caucasian Carpets, vol.l, p.64). Ellis notes that the design originated either in Khorossan or India, and is closely related to the Afshan design which was also heavily used in the region earlier in the 18th century. Harshang and Afshan design endless repeat pattern carpets were standard fare in Karabagh in the 18th century and were not considered rare. (C.G. Ellis, Early Caucasian Rugs, pl.28.) Yetkin lists 19 examples, most with blue grounds. Nor were they then particularly coveted: “These rugs do not appear often in museum holdings, perhaps due to the recognition that their pattern was neither rare nor as effective as other early Caucasian designs” (Ellis, p.86) a situation which has obviously changed as seen by various high prices achieved at auction over the past couple of decades. A closely related example in the Glencairn Museum, Bryn Athyn, displays the same palmette and diagonally serrated leaf border as the present lot but the field pattern is arranged with a stronger emphasis on the horizontal arrangement of the flaming palmettes (Dennis R. Dodds and Murray L. Eiland Jr., Oriental Rugs from Atlantic Collections, exhibition catalogue, Philadelphia, 1996, pl.93). An almost identical kelleh to the present lot, but longer in proportion, was sold in these Rooms, 2 May 2019, lot 241.