Wine-Glass Kazak

This rug was carefully hand knotted by expert adult weavers from high quality Argentinean wool.
It is 3 feet 2 inches wide and 5 feet 3 inches long.

This rug’s bold colors and clear patterns make it a good example of the Kazak style.

One very fun part of this rug is its border. The generalized form of this border dates from ancient times. The echoes of it can now be seen throughout Eurasia. It is characterized by the alternating medallions and angled designs. In modern times, this ancient genre of borders is often called “herati” after its Persian versions.

The border used on this particular rug is from the caucuses. As one would expect from a plucky Kazak, it is a simplification of the herati border pattern down to its bare essentials. This specific border pattern is often called the “wine-glass border.” It gets its name from the shape that looks like a cross section of a wine glass. Through southwestern eyes this is sometimes seen as a stick figure of a cowboy.

Characteristic of Kazaks this design showcases a prominent central medallion. Some believe this helps give such designs a sense of clarity of focus. This particular pattern also uses several smaller medallions in the inner spaces between the center and the border. These medallions use several ancient motifs from the caucuses. For example at either end of the long central medallion there are small hooks, which almost look like horns. These are small allusions to the Caucasian latch-hook motif.

This rug was recently hand-woven from high quality Argentinean wool. It was carefully crafted by adult weavers.