back to "Antique Kazak
Prayer Rugs" main page
|
Antique Kazak Prayer rug, 1.07x1.17m (3'6" x 3'10"), dated AH 1245 (1829 AD), Azerbaijan |
 |
|
Rugs in this group feature large areas of undecorated colour and a
particular shade of light, mottled green; dotted blue spandrels often
feature above the prayer arch. The first publication of a similar example
was in Kendrick and Tattersall's Handwoven Carpets, Oriental and European,
of 1922 (plate 138). Like Kendrick and Tattersall's piece this rug has a
'pinwheel' or swastika within an ivory polygon, and bird-like ornaments
which have been likened to imperial Russian eagles. The borders on the two
rugs are identical. Our rug, however, is distinguished by its
extraordinarily well-balanced design. It also differs in that it features
a very broad madder mihrab, surmounted by a yellow prayer arch with a
plain green polygon beneath it. Aesthetically, our example - with its
pure, bright colours and wonderful use of space-should be considered to be
a 'best of type' within this small, elite group. |
