270 cm x 142 cm
The Shikli rugs were woven towards the end of the nineteen century in northwest
Azerbaijan in the region of the village of Shikli. Their designs follow the tradition that
imposes a determined layout of motifs repeated in all the pieces, allowing us to
appreciate the variations in each one of them: in the colors, in the chosen filler
motifs, the way of representing them, and the inclusion of the unexpected. These variants result from each weaver’s individual creativity while navigating the frame of
this idiosyncratic, time-honored and alluring design.
This rug is extraordinary because of its central medallion, totally taken up by a
design that is characteristic of the Kazak Bordjalou rugs, with ‘animal head’ design 39
making up the concentric diagonal guards. Here we find the ‘reciprocal’ design,
because although what we first perceive are the polychrome guards on an ivory-
colored background, this ‘background’ can also be seen as ivory colored guards with
‘animal heads’. This kind of design of a central medallion on Shikli rugs, to my
knowledge has no published analogies. The motifs in the central cypress trees are
also unusual, a ‘tree of life’ or totemic pole flanked by oddly styled plants and
animals. This is an unconventional piece plenty of unpredictable features.
Here the similarity of the general layout of the seven Shikli rugs that are shown is
noticeable. At the same time, we can appreciate the variations each one offers in the
treatment of the four motifs that form the design: the central medallion, the four
lateral cypress trees, the two central ones, and the four corner spandrels. Once again
we are in the presence of an established tradition that coexists with the imagination
and creativity of the tribal artist-weavers.
Rug Nº: 174
Price: Please ask