White-Ground Kuba Rug

This small rug presents a rich palette with contrasting color combinations that enrich the design. Here, the simple repetition of two different floral motifs – a six-petalled flower in the main border in light red against deep red – frames the central field, which features a repeat of stylized lotuses in the same hues of reds and blues, outlined in deep brown found on the border. Rugs from the broad Transcaucasian region are woven in diverse centers representing a multi-ethnic society in which Armenians, Turkic, Kurdish, Persianate, and other people lived alongside each other. While this diverse society may complicate the attribution to a particular workshop and its cultural identity, it may help explain the development of a shared repertoire of rich and colorful designs often found in these Transcaucasian rugs. Although the compositions relate to traditions that developed in large workshops in regions between Iran and Turkey, such rugs bear distinct features that are considered artistic hallmarks of the vast and diverse Transcaucasian region.