EAST CAUCASUS, MID 19TH CENTURY

The distinctive paired shield medallions, symmetrically conceived in mirror image and composed of a central square with octagonal ends, are often encountered in pile rugs from the Kuba region where, according to Schürmann, they became associated with a particular group after which they were named, Orduch Konagkends, (Ian Bennett, Caucasian Rugs, Weis, 1981, p.258.) They are however also, associated with the Sewan rugs of the Kazak region in the southern Caucasus and are frequently found in the weavings of Baku in Azerbaijan, illustrating how popular design motifs were widely adopted.

Associations can be drawn in the form of the medallion to earlier Persian 'Garden' carpets that display a central water fountain, or courtyard from which paths lead. A Daghestan kilim in the VOK collection displays a similar arrangement of paired shield medallions, with cog-wheels within the octagonal ends, on an open indigo ground, (Rippon Boswell, Selection 3, 25 March 2017, lot 241).