EAST CAUCASUS, FIRST HALF 19TH CENTURY

The present lot is a variant of a group of east Caucasian flat-weaves that take their design stimulus from the so-called 'dragon' carpets woven in Armenia from the 16th to the 18th century. In his research on the subject, Alberto Boralevi concludes that there is such uniformity between the various types produced in the Caucasus, that he is lead 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 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).