An Armenian prayer rug fragment, East Anatolia/South Caucasus

this is comprised of six fragments. Pile generally low to knotheads and foundation throughout. Missing on sides and ends, possibly a fragment of a two or three arch prayer rug and therefore this fragment is at most one third of the original rug. There are holes and bald areas now sewn down to the linen backing so the piece is stabilized. There are only a few minor knots repiled in the border, so the fragment is predominantly original. The colors appear to be good dyes and the design is highly unusual. The piece has been sewn to natural colored linen, mounted and streched. The size of the mounted piece is 4ft. 11in. by 2ft. 9in. (1.50 by 0.84m.)
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
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The highly unusual design of this fragment combines Caucasian elements, such as the border, with characteristics of Turkish village rugs,with its the tulip-filled niche and arches enclosing urns.   To add to the diversity of elements, there is the reciprocal trefoil inner border, a feature more typical of Northwest Persian weaving.   There are two rugs that appear to be closely related to this lot and they each bear Armenian inscriptions.  One is a more complete prayer rug, whereabouts unknown, that was published in Hali, vol. 5, no. 3, page 385 and in Lucy Der Manuelian and Murray L. Eiland, Weavers Merchants and Kings: the Inscribed Rugs of Armenia, Fort Worth, 1984, p. 56 which the authors ascribe to the 18th century.  The second is a rug fragment with a similar tulip filled arch and coloring to the present lot that was featured in Hali, issue 56, p. 165 then with the James W. Blackmon Gallery, San Francisco, who attributed it to "East Anatolia (?), 17th century. "  The two cited pieces each have an Armenian inscription in the upper guard border as well as a combination of Turkish and Caucasian design elements.  All three of these pieces share a reciprocal trefoil border which, together with their similar mix of design vocabulary, suggest that the present rug is also the work of Armenian weavers.

The Blackmon and present fragments share numerous elements such as the upper tulip-filled reserve (very much like those found on Ladik prayer rugs), as well as the small hooks emanating from the tops of the arches and the highly stylized foliate decorations in the surrounding areas. From their illustrations, they appear to have a similar color palette, however this cannot be stated with certainty.  While all three of these rugs share a reciprocal trefoil border, the drawing of that element differs.  The trefoil of the Blackmon fragment is more curvilinear and ample while that of the more complete rug and this lot is smaller and more angular.   It is not clear from the Blackmon fragment, which only has a partial trefoil border, whether this was its major or minor border, while it is the inner border on the other two examples.  The major border of the present lot, ivory with red angular vines linking stylized rosettes to spidery leaves or shrubs, is almost identical to that found on early single-medallion Eagle or Chelaberd Kazak rugs.  Three of these Kazak rugs include one in the Victoria and Albert Museum (see Hali, vol. 3, no. 2, p. 99, fig. 7), a rug sold in these rooms, December 14, 1995, lot 38, from the Ritman collection (previously publsihed in Eberhart Herrmann, Seltene Orientteppiche IX, Munich, 1987, pl. 25) and one in the collection of the National Gallery in Prague (see Hali, issue 149, p. 99.)  This border appears to be related to those of a number of the so-called 'shield' Caucasian carpets, such as one in the collection of Wawel Castle, Krakow (see Hali, issue 149, p. 99), a fragment in Berlin, (see Friedrich Spuhler, Oriental Carpets in the Museum of Islamic Art, Berlin, Washington, D.C., 1987, pl. 106) and numerous published by Robert Pinner and Michael Franses in "Caucasian Shield Carpets" Hali, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 6-21, figs. 4 - 9 which include two recently at auction; lot 98, Carpets from the Estate of Vojtech Blau, Sotheby's New York, December 14, 2006, and another previously in the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection, offered Sotheby's London, 8 October 2008, lot 332 .

The graduating scale of the small pyramid motifs that edge the arch interiors here suggest that this rug may originally have had two or three arches.  This multiple niche design is generally associated with prayer rugs from Central Anatolia.  There are a variety of highly stylized floral or foliate motifs in the ivory areas of this piece that are rendered in a vibrant color range similar to those of the blossom and dragon carpets woven in the 17th and 18th centuries in the Southern Caucasus.  This melding of Turkish and Caucasian aspects affords us a glimpse of an intriguing weaving tradition, where much more remains to be studied.