Page 121 - 2021 April 1, ART OF THE ISLAMIC AND Indian Worlds Including Oriental Rugs, Christie's London

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A LONG SHUSHA KELLEH
KARABAGH REGION, SOUTH CAUCASUS, MID-
19TH CENTURY
Of 'Harshang' design, very light even wear, localised
repiling and reweaves, selvages partially rebound, outer
end guard stripes rewoven
19ft.3in. x 6ft.6in. (589cm. x 204cm.)
£10,000-15,000 US$15,000-21,000
€12,000-17,000
This long kelleh was woven in Shusha, the former
capital of the Karabagh region. We know from reports
in historical sources that they were often woven on
commission for Russian military officers or officials
and exported to the Czarist Empire. The Russians
favoured these designs in their vibrant colour palette,
as well as the long but narrow kelleh proportions.
The design of flaming palmettes enclosing stylised
peony blossoms, was coined the 'Harshang' pattern
by Charles Grant Ellis but is also known as the
'Joshugan', or 'Shah Abbas' design (S Yetkin, Early
Caucasian Carpets, vol. l, p. 64). Ellis notes that the
design originated either in Khorassan or India, and
is closely related to the 'Afshan' design which was
also heavily used in the region. The 'Harshang' and
'Afshan' designs proved extremely popular in the
18th and 19th centuries (C.G. Ellis, Early Caucasian
Rugs, Washington D.C, 1976, pl.28.) Yetkin lists
19 examples, most with blue grounds. Its origin
they ultimately derive from the Isfahan 'in and out'
palmette design. A number of different variants
were produced in different centres, as discussed by
Pamela Bensoussan, 'Four Harshang pattern Carpets
in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs", HALI, vol.3, no.3,
1981, pp.288-290. The present lot has a wide variety
of colours all of which have remained very well
preserved. A closely related example in the Glencairn
Museum, Bryn Athyn, displays the same 'Harshang'
field but with a palmette and serrated leaf border,
(Dennis R. Dodds and Murray L. Eiland Jr., Oriental
Rugs from Atlantic Collections, exhibition catalogue,
Philadelphia, 1996, pl.93). For a comparable example
see, John Eskenazi, L'Arte del Tappeto Orientale, Milan
1983, no. 96

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