EAST CAUCASUS, MID 19TH CENTURY

This bold and wonderfully graphic runner is one of a very small number of soumac rugs with a dense overall field. The attribution of Seychour is largely due to the borders which are characteristic of Seychour weaving. In the catalogue note for Old Eastern Carpets, Masterpieces in German Private Collections, the arrow-like form at one end is described as a prayer niche which is a very rare occurrence on soumac weavings. While it is possible that this is a prayer niche, one would expect the design to be directional and if this is the case the birds to either side of the arrow would be depicted upside down.

The rare buttercup-yellow field and repeated design are similar to a soumac runner sold at Lefevre on 20 May 1977 (Lefevre & Thompson, Caucasian Carpets, London, pl. 59, p.81) and a carpet of almost identical length to the present runner, dated AH 1279 (1862-3 AD), which was sold in these Rooms in The Bernheimer Family Collection of Carpets, 14 February 1996, lot 17. The central pink stripe and running dog stripes relate to a Seychour soumac sold in these Rooms, Davide Halevim: Magnificent Carpets and Tapestries, 14 February 2001, lot 84, as well as a small rug sold at Rippon Boswell, Wiesbaden, in 2000, lot 189, (Hali 165, Auction Price Guide, p.123) which also shares a similar repeated field design.