Kuba Rugs: Harshang Variant Kuba Rug

JBOC attribution Oriental Rug > Caucasian Rugs > Kuba Rugs

Kuba Floral & Heraldic Palmette Pattern

Daniel DSD called this a "Kuba Floral & Heraldic Palmette pattern" when he wrote it up. That is fine as far as that goes but I prefer Kuba Harshang variant. Compare this with the Rare Elements NW Persian Harshang Fragment. Beau Ryan's piece is older and Persian but they are both descended from the same progenitor.

Kuba Floral & Heraldic Palmette pattern

Dimension: 155cm X 110cm , 5ft X 3,6ft

Knot: symmetric slightly open to the right soft wool short clipped.

Density: H38/10cm V42/10cm 1596/dm² ; H 9-10/pi V 10-11/pi 98/psi

Warps: fine white wool, finely twisted, Z2S, slightly depressed

Wefts: medium brown wool, 2 shoots

Selvage: flat selvage, 3 cords of 2 warps with interwoven brown ground wefts and overcast with medium blue wool.

Colours: natural, white, different shade of light to dark blue, olive, madder red, pink, oxidized black and dark brown, light yellow, medium brown.

Ends: warp fringes

Comments:

Related example :

1/ Bennett – Caucasian – plate 307 page 239 – He makes the following comments: “ It is obviously close in concept to the large floral carpets of the late 17th and 18th centuries….”

2/Wright and Wertime – Caucasian Carpets & Covers – picture 23 page 67 – in the top left corner of a 1913 photograph of a Kuba rug display from the Second All Empire Kustar Exhibition.

3/ Wright and Wertime – Caucasian Carpets & Covers – picture 63 page 155 – a 1926 photograph from the Zakgostorg (which replaced the Kustar Committee) exhibition in Kuba.

4/ This kind of palmette are also found in Sumacs from this area. Look at the left and right rows of palmettes of - Bennett – Caucasian – plate 471 page 356

5/ To notice in all this rug the high Persian influence and the use of very unusual main borders.

Here a “bird and rosette Chila main border”, in “1” an arabesque main border and in “2” & “3” a vase design main border.

Information and picture courtesy of Daniel DSD

For Further Reading:

JBOC's Notes on the Bible

Southwest Asia Time Line

Caucasian Rugs

Thanks and best wishes,