3.1 x 4.5 Antique Seychour Kuba Rug, Northeast Caucasus, Circa 1890
Generally, in trying to determine where an antique rug was woven, one prioritizes the weave, since rugs from various areas can share basic design elements. For instance, in antique Persian rugs the classical “Herati” design is seen in tribal QashQa’i rugs woven in southwest Persia; Bidjar and Senneh rugs woven in northwest Persia’s Kurdistan province; village rugs woven in Hamadan province in west central Persia; finely woven rugs from the Fereghan area in central Persia, etc.. A similar approach applies to antique Caucasian rugs. Designs are often shared, though certain features might be more closely linked to a certain district and even village.
This rug combines a field design generally attributed to the village of Konagend in the Kuba district in the northeast Caucasus. The ivory and sky blue major border, on the other hand, which is often referred to as a “running dog” or “wave” border, with red guard borders decorated with scrolling vines and flowers, are quintessential designs associated with the village of Seychour (also spelled Zeichur or other ways), also located in the Kuba district in the northeast Caucasus.
In researching this piece a bit, I found related rugs, one of which had a “Kufic” border, another well known format; and another example which had a border almost universally associated with the village of Chi Chi, once again located in the Kuba district in the northeast Caucasus.
In analyzing the example we have here, the weave seems most in the style of Seychour rugs and the “running dog” border and guard borders further suggest that.
Another thing I noticed in viewing related examples is that, due to the presence of an extra interior guard border in this example, this rug has four borders instead of three. As a concomitant, the field is narrower. Add in that the ivory decoration on the navy field is larger in scale than some examples and this piece has a distinctive appearance.
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Price: Please, call Helen or Douglas at (781) 205-9817 for price or other information.
