Ganja Rugs: Antique Caucasian Two Medallion Chajli Rug

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I spotted this Chajli rug on www.cloudband.com offered by my dear friend J. C. Oliveira of Macau.

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Antique Caucasian Chajli Rug with Two Large Medallions

PRICE $ 5,000.00 (USD)

Size 229cm x 145cm / 7'6" x 4'9"
Region West Asia  Caucasus  Northeast Caucasus  Chajli

Item Type Rugs and Carpets

Period / Date 19th century  late (1867 - 1899)
Structure / Technique Knots: 52 (v) x 32 (h) = 1,664 / dm2

Comments On Condition
Very good, with almost full pile, original selvages and ends, woll warp and weft, very close to the original state, which indicates this rug was carefully kept out of use. Some abrash on the medallions' blue ground.

Unusual and beautiful Caucasian Chajli with two traditional blue medallions on a red ground. The Chajli typical medallion more closely resembles a square with clipped corners than a fully symmetrical octagon.

In this rug both medallions have a somewhat irregular shape, which is not so unusual (see plate 209 in Ian Bennett's Oriental Rugs - Volume 1 Caucasian and E. Gans-Ruedin, Caucasian Carpets, pp. 160-161).

It is rare to find a Chajli rug with only two medallions since "there are usually three medallions in each rug" (Peter F. Stone, Rugs of the Caucasus: Structure and Design, Greenleaf Co., Chicago, 1984, pp. 154).

This rug is also uncommon in that the ground colour of the medallions is the same – a pleasant deep blue, whilst normally these octagons in Chajli rugs alternate dark and light ground colours. The octagons' decoration is traditional and consists of highly stylized motifs composed of straight lines or hooks: trees-of-life, ram's horns and heads and a central cross. The medallions are separated by rows of three ‘diamonds', also referred to as ‘scorpions' (see E. Gans-Ruedin, Caucasian Carpets, pp. 159).

This beautiful rug is one of the most completely definitive of its kind insofar especially in regard to the colours combination and warmth. The main border displays a Caucasian traditional yet magnificent ‘eagle's beak' border design.

See a somewhat similar rug, with 2 medallions, on: Maria Cohen, Tappeti Kazak, Milan, 1984, pp. 26-27.

See other typical Chajli rugs, although with more than 2 medallions, on:

E. Gans-Ruedin, Caucasian Carpets, Thames and Hudson, London, 1986, pp. 158-161;

Ian Bennett, Oriental Rugs - Volume 1 Caucasian, Suffolk, UK, 1981, plates 207-209;

Ulrich Schurmann, Caucasian Rugs, Poolesville, 1990, plate 76;

Eberhart Herrmann, Kaukasische Teppichkunst im 19. Jahrhundert-Ein Bilderbuch, München, 1993, plate 4;

Raymond Bernardout, Caucasian Rugs, London, 1978, pp. 48;

Christie's, catalogue of an auction on Islamic Art and Indian Miniatures and Rugs and Carpets, on 25 April 1996, London, plate 338;

Lefevre & Partners, catalogue on Rare Oriental Carpets, 15.th July 1983, London, 1983, plate 26;

Rippon Boswell, Bedeutende Frühjahrs-Auktion, auction on 5 May 1990, Wiesbaden, 1990, plate 164.

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