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Wade wrote the following in the auction ad: "Type:
Shirvan. Size: 4'5"x6'8". Age:
1880-1890 circa. Condition: Very good to
excellent.Thick lustrous pile
throughout.Exceptions of slight oxidized browns.
(not worn.) The royal blue cruciform medallion on
a red field gives this very special antique rug a
bold and dramatic look. Beautiful vegetable dyes
with a excellent early synthetic red field color.
(no bleeding.) Wool warp, and cotton weft.
K.P.S.I.:10x12.Very collectable. Has been
professionally washed.Needs nothing, but your
favorite place to enjoy. Buyer must pay for
shipping, and proper insurance. Please feel free
to ask any questions you may have. Thank you, and
Good Luck!!!"
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Please note the
design in the lower right hand corner. I think of
it as sort of thumb tack shaped. I use it as one
of the easy identifiers in this group.
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Shirvan or Konagkend
Rug?
Doris Eder called
this type of rug a Shirvan in Orientteppiche Band 1
Kaukasische Teppiche. Munchen: 1979. When Ian Bennett rewrote that
work he left a similar rug in Shirvan Baku but noted that
Eiland was calling a similar rug
a Konagkend. Oriental
Rugs Volume 1 Caucasian page 234. If Eiland published it in
"Oriental Rugs" it must of been in the first or
second edition because it is not in the third or fourth.
If we compare this to the Kuba Sumac in Wright and Wertime Caucasian
Carpets and Covers. page 70 illustration 26 there is
a similarity in some of the iconography including but not
limited to the cruciform devices. As well as to the
Konagkend Kuba on Page 69 illustration 25 in the same
book. So when I look at Ulrich
Schurmann's Caucasian
Rugs pages 274 - 275 it is obvious that Schurmann's Konagkend is the
closest pattern match to this rug.
So my initial reaction is to suggest that this is a
Konagkend rather than a Shirvan. But I do not disagree
with Wade without at least talking to him. Granted I like
Wade but he has spent most of his 50 some years repairing
and selling rugs as his father and Grandfather did before
him. Wade may not dress it up in as fancy words as some
people but he knows rugs. When I called him he was
gracious as ever and very willing to explain his
reasoning. Konagkends usually have deeply depressed backs
and wool wefts. This rug has a flat back and cotton
wefts. This obviously takes us out of Kuba and Konagkend
and makes Shirvan the obvious attribution. I mentioned to
Wade that the only people I could find who attributed
rugs with this pattern were Eder, Bennett, William Robinson
(Christie's, Thursday march 1st, 1990 lot 13) and himself
(Wade Shehady).
| Kuba Konagkend |
Shirvan |
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- More likely to have cotton wefts.
- Flat back.
- Soft handle.
- 113 Kpsi Oriental
Rug Lexicon pg.128
- Less than a 2 to 1 length to width ratio.
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So when Wade attributes a rug I
certainly stop and listen.
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