EAST CAUCASUS, EARLY 19TH CENTURY

This Kuba rug belongs to a small yet well-documented group of 'post-classical' Caucasian weavings, attributed to the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The yellow ground decorated with archaic stylised flowering shrubs is inspired by the Caucasian ‘Shield’ carpets such as the one in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, (‘Caucasian Rugs in the Victoria and Albert Museum’, Hali, Vol. 3, No.2, 1980, fig.5, p.99). This design, as well as the black, white and red arabesque border, are found in a variety of regional weavings. It is the combination of these elements, along with red and blue reciprocal skittle stripes, that typifies the group. An example closely comparable to our rug is published in Ian Bennett’s Oriental Rugs: Volume 1 Caucasian (Austria, 1981, no.328, p.254) and described as the ‘grandfather of the group’ (‘Auction Price Guide’, Hali, June 1992, Issue 63, p.134). That example is related to our rug in its soft yellow ground colour, simplified field design, and well-spaced side borders. A number of rugs of this group are known with similar proportions to the present lot, one such example attributed to 1800 is in the collection of J. A. Smith (Dennis R. Dodds, Murray L. Eiland, Jr. et al, Oriental Rugs from Atlantic Collections, Philadelphia, 1996, pl.81, p.81), one sold at Rippon Boswell, Wiesbaden, 28 March 1992, lot 146 and another with additional diamond chequerboard and ‘S’ motifs is published by Eberhart Herrmann (Asiatische Teppich- Und Textilkunst Band 4, Munich, 1992, pl.46, p.105).