 
|
Sotheby's Carpets Nov 08
Sale: N08503 | Location: New York
Auction Dates: Session 1: Tue, 25 Nov 08 10:00 AM
LOT 88
A
SHIRVAN MARASALI CARPET, EAST CAUCASUS,
20,000—30,000 USD
Lot Sold. Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium:
25,000 USD
MEASUREMENTS
approximately 8ft. 2in. by 7ft. 7in. (2.49 by
2.31m.)
DESCRIPTION
circa 1800
losses to sides and ends, restorations
TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
Warp: wool, Z3S, natural ivory
Weft: wool, Z spun, 2 shoots, madder red
Pile: wool, symmetrical knot
Density: 11 horizontal, 15 vertical
Sides: not extant
Ends: not extant
Colors: madder red, rose, mauve, aubergine, deep
blue, light blue, blue-green, green, light green,
yellow, buff, walnut, ivory
CATALOGUE NOTE
This highly unusual carpet with a design of broad
indigo and ivory stripes enclosing a variety of
stylized blossoms including irises, pinwheel
motifs and palmettes, may be unique in the
published corpus of Caucasian rugs and carpets.
The fine weave, crisp and detailed drawing,
and color palette suggest that it was woven in
the Marasali area of the Shirvan district in the
Eastern Caucasus. Here, the angularly drawn,
stylized floral-motifs echo the lilies,
palmettes, and vine leafs that characterize the
sophisticated large-scale 'dragon' and 'blossom'
carpets produced in the workshops of Karabagh and
Shirvan in the eighteenth and early nineteenth
centuries, see Charles Grant Ellis, Early
Caucasian Rugs, Washington, D.C., 1976, pp. 71,
89 and 101. Certain design elements, such as the
fan-like palmettes in the indigo stripes of the
field, exhibit classical Persian influences as
these recall those of seventeenth century
Isphahan spiral-tendril carpets. The origin of
the pinwheel rosettes in alternating colors is
harder to determine with certainty but it is
possible that they are modifications of
medallions found in 'Sunburst' carpets of the
time, see Ellis, ibid., p. 65. Similar pinwheel
motifs also appear in Azerbaijan embroideries of
the eighteenth century such as the one
illustrated in E. Heinrich Kirchheim ed., Orient
Starts, Stuttgart and London, 2003, fig 50, p. 75
and on an unusual rug sold Rippon Boswell,
Wiesbaden, 17 May 2003, lot 94. Unlike most
workshop carpets from the Caucasus, this piece is
also characterized by an overall sense of
freshness in part due to the crisp ivory bands in
the field. The broad use of a light colored
ground is rarely found in larger carpets and it
renders the palette of the lot offered here
particularly brilliant. This brilliance may also
relate this piece to Caucasian embroideries that
most often have color compositions where crisp
whites are juxtaposed with saturated reds, blues,
greens, earthy browns, and fresh yellows. Here,
the contrast is not only in hues but also in
design, with the intricate flowering stem design
of the white bands juxtaposed against the bolder
elements within the indigo stripes. These
flowering branches can be found in larger
workshop weavings from Karabagh and, in a more
naturalistic version, also in some carpets
produced in Khorossan in the 1600s, see
Kirchheim, ibid., pp. 130-131. The border design
of this carpet alternates the rosettes and
palmettes found in the field, which are separated
by elongated spiked leafs. This orderly border
composition echos and complements the methodic
field arrangement. The inner and outer guard
borders display highly stylized carnations that
are prototypes for those emblematic flowers that
populate the borders of later nineteenth and
early twentieth century Shirvan rugs. The overall
design scheme of this carpet, including irises
and fan palmettes, can be seen in a later Shirvan
rug in the Baku Museum, see Liatif Kerimov, Rugs
and Carpets from the Caucasus, Leningrad, 1984,
pl. 42. Design elements in the field, including
the palmettes, and in particular the geometric
lily-forms, become more stylized and frequently
used in Shirvan weavings within a century, see
Ian Bennett, Oriental Rugs, Volume 1, Caucasian,
Wels, 1981, figs. 243-245, pp. 200-201. The fine
weave, modified workshop design, unusual carpet
format, and the wide color range suggest that the
lot offered here is the product of a cottage
workshop in the East Caucasus. Aesthetically
successful as well, this carpet is a truly
outstanding and unique work of early Caucasian
textile art.
Seen on www.Sothebys.com
JBOC Notes:
|
