KARAGASHLI KUBA
Northeast Caucasian Antique Rug

(Connoisseur-Caliber) ("Featured in our new print catalog") This alluring tribal rug springs from the symbolic, aesthetic tradition particular to the weaving peoples living in the Caucasus mountain range. Their enigmatic imagery has attracted collectors around the world for centuries. The Karagashli patterning in this rug presents red, niched containers holding stylized rosettes with highly-geometricized split palmettes and intermingling avian, equine, and bovid creatures. From these few elements, this field design has inspired countless combinations. The most visionary Karaghasli, such as this extraordinarily minimalist version, evokes something ancient, hieroglyphic, haunting. The super-stylized "split palmettes" are simultaneously zoomorphic. Levitating mythological animals arrayed in ceremonial trappings are silhouetted on the spacious cobalt blue reserve. Although knotted without a template, every nuanced motif is confidently drawn, while their almost mathematical placement is the work of a mature composer. Understated abrash color striation is explored through finely measured texturing, adding a sense of depth, as if the symbols were floating on the surface of a lake. An exceptional rendering of the "dragon" border design that showcases the rug's chromatic spectrum augments the atmospheric artistry of this original creation. The piece is in good moderate pile condition at over 1-½ centuries old.

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