Antique Double Niche Geometric Design Kazak Rug
An antique southwest Caucasian rug, belonging to the prestigious family of weavings known as Kazak. These are characteristically distinguished by abstract geometric patterns originating from the ancient iconography of the Armenian people, who populated this region of the Caucasus since time immemorial. Armenians are renowned throughout the history of the oriental rug for their utmost competence in the art of rug weaving, and are responsible for disseminating their knowledge throughout this region. This Kazak rug shows a double niche pattern enclosing a large, squarish device with pointed ends containing a concentric, polychrome hooked diamond element, this being an iconic motif which appears on the Kazak rugs woven near the town of Borchalo, known to be an important Armenian enclave. The rug is dated on the upper right corner 1313, which is the Hejira date corresponding to 1895.