SOUTH CAUCASUS, MID 19TH CENTURY

This beautiful silk horsecover relates closely to two other published examples, one in the Arthur D. Jenkins Collection in the Textile Museum, Washington D.C. (John Wertime and Richard Wright, Caucasian Carpets & Covers, London, 1995, p.126) the other in the Romain Zaleski Collection (Hali 175, Spring 2013, p.74). The drawing and motifs in the Jenkins and Zaleski pieces are very similar to the present example, worked using an extra-weft wrapping technique and weft-float brocading. However, in our horsecover the motifs are much less densely arranged and are organised in bands separated by clearly defined stripes. The field colouration and looser arrangement of the animals and peacocks are similar to a cover in the James D. Burns Collection, (Visions of Nature; The Antique Weavings of Persia, New York, 2010, pl.31, p.104), for a detail of the drawing of the present lot please see the Contents page of this catalogue. It seems likely that the Burns cover and the present example were both woven at a similar time for an elite member of the same tribe, very possibly the khan himself.