79207 Antique Caucasian Karabagh Kilim Rug Runner, 03'01 x 10'00.
Like a woven bouquet from the mountains of the southern Caucasus, this handwoven wool antique Karabagh kilim runner blooms with the grandeur of roses shaped by both tradition and imperial fancy. Wrought in the Karabagh region—where Armenian and Azeri artisans alike plied their looms with rhythmic devotion—this runner captures the romantic flourish of 19th-century Russian-influenced floral design, translated into the angular dialect of flatweave design. The composition is anchored by a bold red panel, framed in undulating turquoise sawtooth chevron lines that ripple like a garden path bordered in dew. Surrounding this central field, flamboyant cabbage roses unfurl along both sides, their layered petals rendered in rich crimsons, tender pinks, and ivory, all nestling within a thicket of verdant, oak-like foliage.
The artistry of this Karabagh kilim lies not only in its palette but in its precise geometry—each motif articulated with crisp, pixelated clarity, the result of the slit-weave tapestry technique that defines true kilim weaving. This structural integrity is more than technical prowess; it is the language through which generations of weavers conveyed their aesthetic dialogues, adapting foreign influences while holding fast to the rules of the loom. The Karabagh kilim, particularly in runner format, often found its home in corridors of stone houses and mountain lodges, offering a floral procession that bridged the domestic with the ornamental. Here, every rose speaks of care, every zigzag edge a ripple of movement, each border a soft but confident punctuation.
What distinguishes Karabagh kilims from their Balkan cousins or Persian peers is their unapologetic theatricality—opulent yet grounded, flamboyant yet composed. The deep coffee-brown ground serves as dramatic stagecraft, elevating the floral medallions into luminous forms that seem to hover with painterly flourish. And yet, despite its visual exuberance, this Caucasian flatweave rug maintains a classical discipline, with symmetry and balance guiding the eye from end to end. The rhythmic repetition of floral clusters echoes liturgical chant or folk refrain—an aesthetic tradition sung in wool and color. This duality—ornate yet ordered—is a testament to the sophisticated cultural synthesis that flourished in the Caucasus under both Ottoman and Russian sway.
To behold this antique Karabagh kilim is to walk a path scented with memory and color, where craft and romance entwine like the stems of a rose. It invites not only admiration but reflection: on the mountain gardens that inspired it, on the hands that coaxed its fibers into form, and on the enduring power of textiles to preserve beauty across borders and generations. More than a runner, it is a ceremonial passage woven in wool—a legacy of florals in full bloom, held still in time.
- Abrash.
- Handwoven wool.
- Made in Old Russia (Caucasus).
- Measures: 03'01 x 10'00.
- Pile Height: 0.10 of an inch.
- Date: 1920's. Early 20th Century.
