Marasali prayer rug rugs seen on auctions

LOT: 1988
RUG NAME: Marasali prayer rug
AGE: dated 1889-90
ESTIMATE: 4,000 - 6,000 GBP
SOLD:
DESCRIPTION: 1988. A superb black Marasali prayer rug, Shirvan region, south east Caucasus dated1307[AH] (1889-90 AD), 5ft.1in. x 4ft.2in. 1.55m. x 1.27m. Slight even wear overall.This is a splendid representative of one of the most desirable groups of Caucasian rugs, the ‘black’ Marasali prayer rugs (so called because of their use of surmey, the deep saturated blue-black dye, for the ground).The two best known of this type are the ex-Straka rug sold at auction in New York some years ago (see The Oriental Rug Collection of Jerome and Mary Jane Straka no. 102) and the ex- Ballard rug now in the Metropolitan Museum, New York; there are also at least two other closely related rugs in the literature, the example in Schurmann, Caucasian Rugs, no. 78 and the one two formerly with Nagel in Stuttgart (see Bennett, Oriental Rugs vol. 1: Caucasian, no. 233).These four rugs share two distinguishing characteristics - small size and a somewhat ‘wonky’ drawing of the chess-like motif in the main border together with a green pediment on each motif. The Straka rug, for instance, measures no more than 3ft.9in. x 2ft.11in. (1.1m. x 0.89m) and is the smallest of the four. The present rug retains some of the most pleasing characteristics of this ‘small’ group including the vivid colour and interior decoration of the botehs and the large size of the botehs relative to the field (between seven and ten vertical rows with the largest number being on the smallest rug, the Straka). What would appear to be later examples, such as the one included in Hasson, Caucasian Rugs, an exhibition catalogue for the L.A. Mayer Memorial Museum, Jerusalem, 1986, no. 24, tend to have smaller botehs in up to twelve rows. As for the dating of these rugs, the ex-Ballard rug apparently bears a date of 1233[AH] (1817-18 AD), the Straka rug was described as ‘Late 18th century’ in the owner’s catalogue and the example in Bennett has an apparent inscription which Nagel’s read as 1211[AH] (1796- 7AD) when they offered it at auction in the 1970s. In all cases these early dates are open to considerable doubt and a date no earlier than the mid 19th century seems most reliable for all of them; this would make the date of the present example, which probably does represent a slightly later version than the Straka-ex- Ballard group Entirely believable. £4000-6000

AUCTIONHOUSE: Netherhampton Salerooms
AUCTION: Carpets, Rugs and Textiles
LOCATION: Salisbury, UK
DATE: 14-05-2009
WEB SITE: http://www.salisburyauctioncentre.co.uk
PHOTO COURTESY: Netherhampton Salerooms

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