DAGHESTAN
Why So Named.—Daghestan means "mountain land" and is the name of a district in Caucasian Russia on the Caspian Sea. It has a population of 600,000.
Knot.—Ghiordes. Number vertically ten to fifteen; number horizontally eight to fourteen; number to square inch eighty to two hundred ten.
Warp.—Usually wool, being as a rule a dark brown or natural color in the antiques and white or gray in the moderns. Some of the moderns have a combination of cotton and wool. The warp threads may be composed of one strand of cotton and one of wool in such a way as to cause a puckering of the fabric, especially after it has been wet.
DAGHESTAN RUG
OWNED BY A. U. DILLEY & CO.
Woof.—In the moderns nearly always cotton. In the antiques usually white or gray wool or a mixture of the two.
Nap.—Fine silky wool cut short.
Weave.—As a rule finely and closely woven.
Sides.—Selvaged or overcast with colored wool.
Ends.—A narrow selvage with loose or knotted warp threads at each end.
Border.—Three or more border stripes, usually three, carrying small figures and separated by narrow stripes of solid colors. The main border stripe most frequently has a cream colored ground. The lobster, the crab, the reciprocal trefoil, the reciprocal saw-teeth, the wine glass, the barber-pole stripe, and the Georgian border designs are frequently employed.
Prevailing Colors.—The central ground is usually ivory with figures in the different tints of red, blue, green, and yellow.
Dyes.—In the antiques all good. Some of the moderns are aniline dyed.
Designs.—The same patterns are employed as were in vogue centuries ago. Diagonal ornamentation of both border and field is frequently employed as in many of the Kabistans. Floral forms seldom used. The centre is never plain, but is always filled with small geometrical figures. The tarantula, the swastika, the link, S forms, octagon, eight-pointed star, and the latch hook variations are common. The Greek cross is almost omnipresent.
Sizes.—From two and one-half to seven by four to ten feet.
Prices.—Antiques rare; moderns cheap, from $1.00 to $3.00 per square foot.
REmarks.—Frequently crooked. The Shirvan and Kabistans are often sold as Daghestans.
THE EXAMPLES ILLUSTRATED
COLOR PLATES
with accompanying descriptions at pages [84] and [292].
DOUBLETONES
DAGHESTAN RUG (page [254])
Like most rugs of its class this piece consists wholly of geometrical devices such as the latch hook, star, octagon, barber-pole stripe, etc., all spaces being filled with designs of various sizes. Each motif consists of three eight-pointed star forms, one within another. The second and third borders are purely Caucasian and represent a twig with two leaves and a flower. This motif is seldom found in any but the Caucasian fabrics.
DAGHESTAN PRAYER RUG (see page [256])
The most common form of Daghestan prayer rug with its Caucasian niche and lattice field, each square of which is filled with a peculiar rectilineal floral form. All of the border designs are characteristically Caucasian.
DAGHESTAN PRAYER RUG
PROPERTY OF H. B. CLAFLIN & CO.
(Description on page [256])