The CAUCASUS in the 19th Century
See the following geographical entries:
| Abkhazia | Goradis |
| Akstafa, | Karabagh |
| Armenia | Kazak |
| Azerbaijan | Konaghend |
| Baku | Kuba |
| Chelabi, | Lenkoran |
| Chondzoresk | Lori Pambak |
| Daghestan | Marasali |
| Dara Chichi | Moghân |
| Derbend | Shamshadnee |
| Dilijan | Shemakha |
| Echmiadzin | Surakhany |
| Elisavetpol | Shirvân |
| Erivan | Talish |
| Genje | Zakatala |
Caucasian flatweaves. Caucasian kilims and palases are usually woven as a single piece. The slit weave tapestry structure is used. Warp ends are knotted to produce a web effect. Motifs consist of adjacent or compacted large geometric medallions suggesting palmettes or rows of smaller geometric motifs. A few kilims consist of all-over patterns of small, repeated geometric elements. Colors are bright and contrasting. Regional attribution of kilims within the Caucasus is problematic, despite trade designations such as “Kuba,” “Shirvân,” or “Talish.”
Soumak bags and mafrash are attributed to Kurdish weavers in the Caucasus and similar pieces to the Shahsavan in Iran. Large soumaks were woven throughout the Caucasus, many of them from Kuba. Common designs in the nineteenth century were a vertically repeated diamond medallion alternating with two hexagons or circular motifs, and dragon soumaks based on the pile dragon rugs. A design of large “S” shapes thought to represent drag ons was woven with the soumak structure. See “arbabash,” “dava ghin,” “dragon soumaks,” “dum,” “istang,” “kiyiz,” “sileh,” and “verneh.”
C.E. Common era. Used as a religiously neutral replacement for A. D. in date designation.
çeki tülü. See “tülü.”
cemetery carpet. See “landscape carpet.”
centaury. Centaurea acaulis, a plant whose roots are used for a yellow dye.
Centaury
centimeter. See “conversion factors.”
Central Asia. See “Eastern Turkestan” and “Western Turkestan.”
cerga, tsherga. A Bulgarian goat-hair flatweave of woven strips sewn together.
çeyrek (Turk., “quarter”). A Turkish term for village rugs of about 2.5 by 4.5 feet.
“C” gul. A Turkmen octagon gul in which C-shapes or crescents are arranged, with crescents facing both left and right. This gul is found in Yomud rugs.
“C” gul
Chahal Shotur, Chehel Shotur (Persian, “forty camels”). A town of Iran west of Isfahan and a source of Bakhtiari rugs with a compartmented garden design.
Chahar aimaq. See “Aimaq.”
chahar bagh (Persian, “quartered garden”). The design of compartmented carpets with the layout of a formal Persian garden. See “garden carpet.”
Chahâr Mahâl (Persian, “four places”). A region of western Iran between Isfahan and the Zagros Mountains. The area is controlled by the Bakhtiaris. Rugs marketed as “Bakhtiari” are woven by natives of the area, who are not members of the Bakhtiari tribe. The “four places” are the towns and districts of Shahr-e Kord, Borujen, Farâhân, and Lordakân. See “Bakhtiari,” “khod rang,” and “Shahr-e Kord.”
Chahâr-râ (Persian chahâr-râh “crossroads”). A district of Hamadan in Iran and the source of rugs with a black ground. Knots are symmetric on a cotton foundation with single wefts.
chain. A term for foundation warp in power-loomed pile carpets.
chain stitch. A stitch consisting of successive loops, the needle passing through each loop at the same relative position. The chain stitch is used for decorative purposes and sometimes to lock the final weft in place at the end of a rug. Rugs embroidered with chain-stitching are commercially produced in India.
Chain stitch
chair covers, throne back. A Chinese or Tibetan special-purpose pile weaving consisting of two pieces, one for the back and the other for the bottom of the chair. The piece for the back is usually scalloped. See “thigyarbya.”
Chair back Ningxia
Chajli. A group of nineteenth-century rugs attributed to Shirvân in the Caucasus that display three or more large octagonal medal lions. The medallions often resemble rectangles with clipped corners rather than true octagons. The medallions are in alter nating light and dark colors. Knot density is about 100 symmetric knots per square inch. Their average area is about 40 square feet. Wefts may be cotton or wool. See “Caucasus” and “Shirvân.”
Chajli medallion
Chajli rug (detail) James Allen
Chakesh. A tribe of the Ersari located around Aq Chah in Afghanistan. The tribe weaves rugs in red and blue using traditional guls.
Chakhansur. A town in southwestern Afghanistan bordering Iran. Baluchi rugs of this area are finely knotted. Small, packed geometric elements are used in the field. Colors are dark brown, blue, and black with some red. See “Afghanistan.”
chaklâ (Hindi). A cloth of silk and cotton.
chalat. See “khalat.”
chalik. See “khalyk.”
chamomile. Anthemis tinctoria, a flowering plant that may be used to produce a yellow dye.
Chamomile
