Antique Kazaks, as well as other rugs from the Caucasus, are perhaps among the most coveted collectible rugs in the world; they are rare, beautiful and expensive.
Geographically, Kazak rugs production is limited to a triangle in the Lower Caucasus encompassing Kars in Turkey, Tbilisi in Georgia and Erivan in Armenia.
Caucasian rugs appeared on the western market at the end of the 19th century. They were, it is said, an inexpensive alterative to other more elaborate oriental carpets. However, their beauty and the creative originality soon attracted the attention of savvier consumers;
For some time, Caucasian rugs rode on, speaking colloquially, what was left the tidal wave of Orientalism that swept the West earlier in the century.
After all, the abstract geometric patterns of the Caucasian rugs reflected those immortalized in the Renaissance paintings by Lotto, Holbein and others.
Portrait Of A Married Couple by Lorenzo Lotto
Sadly, however, around 1920-30s, their quality began to deteriorate. While the designs continued to stun the world consumers, the introduction of synthetic dyes had a very detrimental effect on the rugs’ overall colour harmony.
Furthermore, with the idea of improving sustainability of the rural Soviet Caucasus, efforts were undertaken to increase the production output of the indigenous rug industry.
Transcaucasian State Import and Export Trading Office, operating under the patronage of Josef Stalin, was set up facilitating mass production and distribution of both Caucasian (Georgia, Azejberjan) and Turkoman (Turkmenistan) rugs with critical consequences to creativity and quality of the former traditions.
When discussing Kazaks, or nearly all Caucasian rugs, therefore,
world scholars tend to focus on the period between 1880 and 1920-30s.
Arguably, Kazaks play the most vital role within the spectrum of scholarly discussions centered on the rugs from the Caucasus; however, what distinguishes a Kazak from the rest of the Caucasian rugs remains in the sphere of fog and confusion.
Geographically, Kazak rugs production is limited to a triangle in the Lower Caucasus encompassing Kars in Turkey, Tbilisi in Georgia and Erivan in Armenia. Rugs from the adjacent Lake Sewan are also considered Kazaks, and so are rugs from Genje and Krabagh further east.
Some rugs from Kuba, closer to the Caspian sea, such as Gymyl village dragon rugs, display Kazak patterns as well.
All rugs produced in these areas share some characteristics in design but are specific to their category, and to a lesser degree origin. They are defined as follows: Karachov, Bordjalou, Akstafa and Lori Pamback.
It is not clear why Karachov Kazaks bear such a name. Bordajalou is a village, Akstafa is both a village and a river; and Lori-Pamback is a mountain range.
Up until the early 20th, the Armenian village of Shusha in Azerbaijan produced ‘nazmalyk‘ Kazak rugs resembling classic Islamic prayer rugs.
Yet, nazmalyks feature Christian motifs, and are referred to as baptismal rugs.
It may be concluded, in the face of such a range of references, that the naming of Kazaks was a matter entrusted likely to merchants rather than scholars, but the latter accepted the existing denominations a priori.
Many villages in the Caucasus produce however other lesser known Kazaks such as Tovuz Kazaks (Kazak rayon) or dragon Kazaks from the village of Gymyl in the Kuba district.
There are a number of factor that differentiate all Kazaks: weaving techniques, design patterns, colour schemes. They all however display a most unpredictable variety of ideas and seemingly unlimited imagination while being constrained by the specificity or origin.
The typical Kazak patterns have been imitated all over the rug world; Turkey, Morocco and elsewhere; but it has been suggested that the bold geometric designs typical to Kazaks from the Caucasus originated many centuries before further east, in Central Asia; in Khotan and Yarkand.
Kazaks as well as well as other Caucasian rugs are collectible artifacts of the bygone times; though still in production, the geopolitical changes that occurred in the Caucasus following Russia’s annexation of the greater part of the Persian Caucasus, and later the Bolshevik revolution put effectively an end to the weaving arts of unrestrained imagination that flourished throughout the region for centuries before.
A.G.
