.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
There are twelve examples of the group listed by Charles Grant Ellis, that include the characteristic 'x'-frame medallion, flanked above and below either with stylised 'dragons' or 'animal combat' groups (C.G.Ellis, Early Caucasian Rugs, Washington, D.C., 1976, p.80). Of the entire group there are only three carpets; the Chadbourne carpet in the Art Institute, Chicago (Ellis, op.cit. pl.25), a carpet in the Iparmiiveszeti Museum, Budapest (S. Yetkin, Early Caucasian Carpets in Turkey, London, 1978, fig. 176), and the Cambalios carpet that are woven on a blue ground with all the others having a red. Other published examples include two other fragments of a rug in the Textile Museum (Ellis, pl.26), a carpet found in the Ulu Cami in Divrigi (Yetkin, pl.43), an example published by Jacoby (pl.15; cf. also Yetkin, fig.178), the red-ground 'Dragon' Achdjian carpet in the Ethnographic Museum in Erivan, (Hali, Winter 1980, p.317, fig.3) and one belonging to U.Schürmann (see Yetkin, fig.179).
Although at first glance the present carpet appears to be a variant of the 'Dragon' carpet there are several key differences. The irregular and loose geometry in the design of the present carpet is uncharacteristic of the generally more precisely drawn Caucasian drawing, as seen in an early 18th century Karabagh example, (Dennis Dodds and Murray L. Eiland Jr., Oriental Rugs From Atlantic Collections, Philadelphia, 1996, pl.90). The white cotton-wefted structure of the present carpet, most commonly associated with North West Persian weaving, is much more flexible than the stiffer handling of a contemporaneous Caucasian carpet. Another noticeable variation of the design from that of the Caucasian 'Dragon' carpets is the inclusion of the Persian Safavid leopard with his prey rather than the lion and the kylin. The present lot incorporates a number of small animal motifs scattered in the field which one would not expect to find on Caucasian carpets until the much later, almost invariably much smaller examples. Despite these differences, this carpet is part of a group of carpets that act as an important bridge in terms of historical design migration between the Caucasus and the Azerbaijan and Kurdish weavers of north west Persia
Although at first glance the present carpet appears to be a variant of the 'Dragon' carpet there are several key differences. The irregular and loose geometry in the design of the present carpet is uncharacteristic of the generally more precisely drawn Caucasian drawing, as seen in an early 18th century Karabagh example, (Dennis Dodds and Murray L. Eiland Jr., Oriental Rugs From Atlantic Collections, Philadelphia, 1996, pl.90). The white cotton-wefted structure of the present carpet, most commonly associated with North West Persian weaving, is much more flexible than the stiffer handling of a contemporaneous Caucasian carpet. Another noticeable variation of the design from that of the Caucasian 'Dragon' carpets is the inclusion of the Persian Safavid leopard with his prey rather than the lion and the kylin. The present lot incorporates a number of small animal motifs scattered in the field which one would not expect to find on Caucasian carpets until the much later, almost invariably much smaller examples. Despite these differences, this carpet is part of a group of carpets that act as an important bridge in terms of historical design migration between the Caucasus and the Azerbaijan and Kurdish weavers of north west Persia