SOUTH CAUCASUS, CIRCA 1870

The 'Pinwheel' Kazak has for a long time been one of the most collectable and immediately recognisable of all Caucasian nineteenth century rugs. The arrangement of the field design, likely inspired by 17th century 'Dragon' carpets; shows little variation from other examples, displaying off-set columns of ivory and pale yellow rosettes alternately enclosed within indigo rotating hooks and linked by abstract green 'dragons' filled with minor inverted 'C'-motifs representing the scales on the body. The border is characteristic of what Ulrich Schürmann describes as ‘lozenges and hooked rectangles alternating on a white ground’ (Caucasian Rugs, pl.4, p.62). The earliest dated example is inscribed AH 1222 / 1807-8 AD, (Rippon Boswell, 10 November 1984), however there are some doubts regarding its interpretation. A date in the second half of the 19th century seems more probable for the majority of examples. An unusual feature of the present rug is the band of small hooked brackets at one end of the field. This motif is used on a 'Pinwheel' rug as the main border design, (HALI, vol 2, no.4. 1980). For a discussion on the group see H. Gsell, 'Some Thoughts on the Swastika Kazak', HALI, Vol.3, no.3, 1981, pp. 192-195.