EAST CAUCASUS, CIRCA 1870

While the design of triple indigo lozenge medallions on a red ground form a substantial group in soumac production, the medallions on the present carpet are scalloped in profile and are filled with stylised cloudbands, a characteristic design of wool pile Chondzorek rugs. In his research on the subject, Alberto Boralevi concludes that there is such uniformity between the various soumac design groups produced in the Caucasus, that he is led 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. Boralevi notes six different border designs but does not include the paired bracket, lozenge and 'S'-motif pattern of the present lot. This same border appears on a 'Dragon' soumac formerly in the James D. Burns Collection, sold in these Rooms, 18 October 2001, lot 245, (James D. Burns, The Caucasus, Traditions in Weaving, Seattle, 1984, no.51), and on another 'Dragon' soumac, sold Christie's London, 28 October, 2000, lot 153.