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Afshan runner from the Shirvan district, Caucasus
Made in Kuba region, Caucasus, c.1800.Summary
Object No.
2004/136/1Object Statement
Rug, Afshan runner, wool / cotton, symmetrical knots, Shirvan district, Kuba region, north Caucasus, c 1800Physical Description
Rug, Afshan runner, wool / cotton, symmetrical knots, Shirvan district, Kuba region, north Caucasus, c 1800Long rectangular runner, with predominantly woollen warps, cotton wefts and knotted woollen pile. The dark blue field is filled with rosettes and palmettes linked by vertically aligned and somewhat geometric stems and tendrils in natural cream wool. The main border is in Kufic style with narrow guard stripes. The palette is soft, with varying shades of blue, red, yellow and brown.
Marks
No marks.Short URL
https://ma.as/347447Dimensions
Width
1255 mmProduction
Notes
The materials of this Afshan rug are typical of Caucasian carpets in that the warps are of undyed wool plied with the occasional strand of cotton, the wefts are cotton and the symmetrically knotted pile of wool.Afshan carpets were made during most of the nineteenth century and possibly earlier and sit within a broader category of rugs called Shirvan. The term Afshan refers to a particular design, derived from 17th and 18th century Persian and Indian floral and arabesque sources, rather than a group of people or geographical area.
Made
Kuba region, Caucasus c.1800History
Notes
This Afshan runner has been in the collection of the donor, Dr George Soutter, for over 20 years and is part of a collection given to the Powerhouse Museum by Dr Soutter to acknowledge the achievements of the Oriental Rug Society of NSW (ORS), an affiliated society of the Museum, to emphasise the significance of the Museum's rug collection and to encourage its growth.The rug was exhibited in the 1983 exhibition 'Unravelling the rug puzzle' in Stage One of the Powerhouse Museum and was published in the catalogue of the same name, p.15. In August 2004, the rug was installed in the exhibition 'Pathways through paradise: oriental rugs from Australian collections' in the Powerhouse Museum's Asian Gallery, and is published in the accompanying catalogue on p.45.
Owned
Soutter, George Australia, Oceania 1980-2004Source
Credit Line
Donated through the Australian Government Cultural Gifts Program by Dr George Soutter, 2004Acquisition Date
7 October 2004Cite this Object
Harvard
Afshan runner from the Shirvan district, Caucasus 2018, Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, accessed 18 April 2019, <https://ma.as/347447>Wikipedia
{{cite web |url=https://ma.as/347447 |title=Afshan runner from the Shirvan district, Caucasus |author=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences |access-date=18 April 2019 |publisher=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, Australia}}
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