Karabagh long rug

Karabagh  long rug

from the southern Caucasus

circa 1870

Size: 244 x 108 cm

The Caucasus is a melting pot of different tribal and ethnic groups. Prominent amongst the rug weavers are the Azeri Turks, the Armenians, the Kurds and the Talish. 

This old long rug from the Karabagh region uses a repeating arrangement of the ‘boteh’ motif to great visual effect. The ‘boteh’, often known as ‘paisley’, has its probable origins in the textiles of Mughal India where it appeared in more realistic renditions of floral or plant forms. The weavers of the Caucasus managed to produce many variations on the theme  and to stylise such forms in a way that often reduced them to pure abstraction. Lustrous, soft wool and a clear palette of natural dyes has been used.