KAZAK REGION, SOUTH CAUCASUS, CIRCA 1800

Fachralo rugs are normally found in prayer format, with a re-entrant mihrab arch, though it is rare to find these examples with a white ground. Such examples are published in HALI, Issue 122, p.142, and in a monograph by Ralph Kaffel where he states in a footnote that he knows of only two others (Caucasian Prayer Rugs, London, 1998, p.54, fig.14). This example is still more unusual because, rather than a re-entrant mihrab niche, it has a been mirrored along the horizontal axis to create a symmetrical design. This phenomenon can also be seen in an Ottoman context, where designs with arches developed into symmetrical patterns like the ‘Transylvanian’ group. The design resembles that of the so-called ‘animal hide’ group of Fachralo Kazaks, examples of which have been sold at Sotheby’s London, 5 March 2008, lot 38; and at Rippon Boswell Wiesbaden, 28 May 2022, lot 233.