Shirvan rug (575)

Shirvan prayer rug from eastern Caucasus,west coast of the Caspian Sea

Age: circa 1885

Size: 4′.10″x3′.9″ (147×114 cm)

The ivory field shows a free standing leaf lattice in which the reserves enclose single and triple flowers.Along the sides of the field are dots,ewers,diamonds and a bird.The pattern continuous into the spandrels and is further accented by a human figure and an unusual ewer like motif.The floating mihrab is edged in a sawtooth pattern,and the navy ground shows a rosette pattern.The red main border has a barred S pattern while the navy minor borders show rosettes and V’s in various colors.In addition there is a red and blue keyhole reciprocal innermost border and a red sawtooth field edging.There are four black and white barber pole lines in the border system.The cotton side cords are intact.At each end is a cotton kilim followed by the original knots.All the colors are from natural sources including the camel.The piece is in good condition except for some minor selvedge issues.