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Antique Armenian Gendge

I spotted this Gendge Rug on eBay offered by my dear friend Serapi. Of course Serapi is Wade Shehady Jr. the great Pittsburgh carpet dealer Trusted Resource List - Rug & Carpet Dealers In The U.S. - Shehady's Oriental Rugs.

eBay Seller List: serapi

Wade wrote the following in the auction ad:

"Type: Gendge. Size:3'10"x6'4". Age:1870-1880 circa. Condition: Very good to excellent. Soft velvety wools, with 3/8" thick pile throughout. Exceptions of oxidized browns that are not worn. Complete with the original double braided edges that have had wool wrapped. Here is a antique Caucasian rug that has alot of character, and a very warm feeling. Early colors of all vegetable dyes. Wool warp, and weft. K.P.S.I.:5x6. 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!!!"

Sorry Picture Lost

Back of Rug

Of all the Caucasian rugs almost all have two shots of weft between each row of knots but Kazaks and Gendges have 2 to 4 shots. The weft count is often irregular and may be two shots with intermittent 3 or 4 shots. The wefts are generally undyed brown or red. The backs of Gendges are flat or with up to a 30 degree warp depression. Warps are generally three ply twisted undyed wool.

Gendge rugs averages 31 square feet and 57 symmetrical knots per square inch. Stone, P.F. Oriental Rug Lexicon. 1997,

Gendge Rug

Gendge or Ganja is a difficult area in that it was a substantial rug production area but there is not a great deal of solid evidence for attribution. Ulrich Schurmann suggests that most Gendge rugs are woven by Armenians. Caucasian Rugs page 41. This rug has type of colors, design that I equate with an Armenian attribution. When I see a bold powerful design with happy colors and a relatively coarse construction I think Armenian.

Wright and Wertime refer back to A. S. Piralov's Kratkii ocherk kustarnykh promyslov Kavkasa for the estimate that in 1913 there were 30,000 weavers in 222 villages in the Ganja area. But then they suggest that there are only 8 patterns woven in the Gendge area based on N. Abdullaeva's Kovrovoe iskusstvo Azerbaidzhana Baku 1971. Caucasian Carpets and Covers. page 127. I love Caucasian Carpets and Covers but sometimes such as on this area I am troubled by the reliance on Russian language sources for hard to believe assertions such as this. If there were 30,000 weavers in 222 villages which I find very plausible I find it implausible that they confine their production to 8 patterns. I also feel more comfortable with the 1913 source rather than the 1971 source. Ian Bennett identifies more than 8 patterns in Oriental Rugs Volume 1 Caucasian. Ulrich Schurmann's Caucasian Rugs shows ten types of Gendge, do we throw two out?

I have to wonder if the source seriously meant only 8 patterns total or the commercial production was confined to 8 primary patterns for their commercial production. In the Caucasus we must separate the time into the Persian period, the Czarist period, and the Communist periods and when we are given assertions such as 8 patterns we need to know when and in what context.

So as I look at this rug and try to weigh the evidence I have to suggest that this is a Gendge. Structurally this rug fits better in Gendge that anywhere else that comes to mind. However it does not appear to be one of the 8 commercial Gendge patterns to which Wright and Wertime allude. The Azeris are said to have produced most of the commercial rugs from Gendge. As I mentioned earlier this rug has a look that makes me suspect that it was woven by Armenians. So when I look at all the available data I feel this is an Armenian rug woven in Gendge. I also suggest that this rug was woven for indigenous use and not for the export trade.

One thought that strikes me is that this is not a Kustar rug. The Kustar movement was an effort by the Russian Government to stimulate weaving by teaching weavers to weave rather predictable commercial pieces. This rug show a definite spark of creativity and artistic expression.

For Further Reading:

Persian Rugs and Carpet

Turkish Rugs

Turkmen Rugs

JBOC's Notes on the Bible

Southwest Asia Time Line

Caucasian Rugs

Thanks and best wishes,

J. Barry O'Connell Jr.

Persian Rugs the O'Connell Guides

Tabriz Rugs

Kashmar Rugs