Attribution
to Lesghi weavers
It was not apparent to me when I wrote this that was a
real Lesghi. Daghestan
Rug. Following Schurmann's
attribution I called it a "Daghestan Rug. North Caucasus". Now years later I
feel that this is a Lesghi
based on a few key points of attribution:
- Large Star repeat pattern.
- Depressed foundation .
- Liberal use of strong green color
When we are dealing with carpets with unknown
provenance we can only speak in probabilities. On that
basis I feel the best attribution of this freagment is
Lezghi.
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Schurmann
attributes these rugs to Daghestan which is an
area of the North Caucasus.
In Caucasian Rugs
COLOR is the Critical Factor. This Rug has the
Right COLOR.
This Rug has excellent drawing
and is well spaced. If it had it's outer borders
it would rival or beat Plate 132 in Schurmann's
Caucasian
Rugs. In any serious discussion of Caucasian
Rugs Schurmann
is the definitive source. There are later books
but Schurmann
defined the category and his definitions are
still used today.
Due to the depressed warps and
the drawing I attribute this rug to the early
period.
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Daghestan Rug. North Caucasus,
early19th Century. 3 foot by 5 foot 6 inch. Structure:
Symmetrical. 8 knots per horizontal inch and 8
knots per vertical inch. 64 per square inch (992
per square decimeter).depressed warps.
Yarn Spin: Z.
Warp: 3 ply wool light brown
Weft: 2 ply wool white.
Pile: 2 Wool singles.
Ends: reduced with warp fringe.
Selvages: Not original.
Further Notes: Some old repairs and reweaves.
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This Schurmann
piece is a beautiful rug but I would like to make a few
small points. The auction piece is less cluttered and
achieves a better spacing by only having 3 stars. Rug
designs seemed to get more cluttered as the Russian
occupation of the Caucasus's continued so I suspect that
this fragment may be older that the Schurmann rug.
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The Auction
Fragment
I left these two pictures the
same width so that you can see that this star is
considerably longer.
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Schurmann's
plate 132
Please Note that in this piece
the medallion is compressed and that in the
center the weaver made a mistake in the design.
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A Note on Condition:
This rug is not a candidate for floor
use. It is a collectable piece and I call it a fragment
since it is missing it's outer borders. Some collectors
will want it like this and other people will have the
outer borders restored. I am a little surprised that I
was able to get it reasonably since it is an obvious
candidate to be sent to Turkey and then sold as whole
once the borders are restored .
For Further Reading:
Thanks and best wishes,
J. Barry O'Connell Jr.
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