SOUTH CAUCASUS, MID 19TH CENTURY

The origin of the design has been the subject of some discussion, beginning with the 1980 Hali article. The subject is discussed at length by Heinrich Kirchheim (Orient Stars, Stuttgart and London, 1983, pp.31-33). Eberhart Herrmann believes that the design derives from the 15th century "Crivelli" star designs ("Connoisseur's Choice", Hali 49, February 1990, p.14). This however does not account for a small group of Caucasian rugs which appear to be at an intermediate stage between a Persian original with palmettes and the wholly stylised interpretation one finds here (R. Hasson, Caucasian Rugs, Jerusalem, 1986, no.38, pp.96-7; Christie's London 17 October 1996, lot 402). While not discounting the long-term influence of the earlier Turkish source, the clearly demonstrable link between Persian 17th century designs and Caucasian 18th century carpets, which in turn are the basis for great number of 19th century weeavings, make it difficult to discount the influence this group of carpets may have had in the development of the present design.

In 1980 Robert Pinner and Michael Franses divided the then known star Kazaks into four groups labelling them A, B, C, and D ("Star-Kazaks", Hali, vol.3, no.1, pp.17-26). All of the ornaments on the present rug, including the border, minor stripes, and the coronet motifs fall cleanly within their classifications of group D. A very similar rug can be found in James D. Burns, The Caucasus, Traditions in Weaving, Seattle, 1984, no.31.