Kuba Khan Konagkend rug in a dark blue ground with a latticed field

CODE: KUKON125

Size: 117x156cm

Size (ft): 3'10"x5'1"

Area: 1.82 m²

Density: 170 000 knots per square meter, totally ~300 000 knots

Colors: madder red, mauve/lavender, medium blue, yellow, dark green, light green, midnight blue, ivory, dark brown, light brown.

Dyes: madder, weld (Reseda Luteola), indigo, pomegranate skins, walnut husks, onion skins, natural dark brown sheep wool, natural ivory sheep wool

Materials: Handcarded and handspun wool for pile, ivory wool warps (natural ivory and brown twist) and ivory wool wefts (two shots). 1cm of flatwoven kilim ends at both sides. - wool on wool

Knots: Gördes (Turkish, symmetrical)

Pile height: 0.4cm

Ends: five rows of decorative knotted meshwork

Inscriptions: 1438 (=2017 weaving date), "Kamila" (the name of the weaver - inside the minor border), "Khan", tamga (tribal seal) of Afshar tribe


Weaver: Kamila

Weaving Period: four months

Handwoven in Azerbaijan

Design: The rug features a simplified version of the classic Konaghend design, an intricate mosaic of interwoven elements based on conjoined hexagons. The Konaghend pattern is arguably the most intricate and complex of all Caucasian field designs. It is almost certainly rooted in the 'Lotto' designs of sixteenth-century Turkish Ushak rugs from Turkey/Anatolia (an intricate lattice tracery pattern featuring conjoined hexagons; so called because of its depiction in paintings by the sixteenth-century artist Lorenzo Lotto). Various bird or animal forms may be identified in Konaghend patterns; whether these are intentional trompe l'oeil or accidental imagery on the part of the weaver. In this specific design, it is possible to see confronting human being forms. The main border carries 'birds on tree' motif.