Full pile Anatolian village rug, probably Kurdish (Malatya area), ca. 1870? Full pile Anatolian village rug, probably Kurdish (Malatya area), ca. 1870?This is an Anatolian village rug, probably Kurdish, ca. 1870, with full and very long pile, with beautiful all-natural dyes (incl. cochenille). Looking at the range of rugs in Eagleton's An introduction to Kurdish rugs, my guess is that the rugs originates from the Malatya region; there are a few rugs such as plate 88 and 89 which are similar both design-wise and in terms of the palette, although I haven't yet found a rug with the same type of medallion with hook extensions.
Four medallions fill the rust-red field, the two inner ones enclose hooked rectangles, the outer ones diamonds. The pile is so long that the design gets a bid blurry. Interesting are the hooked line systems extending comb-like from the sides into the field.
The rug measures 5ft.3in. x 3ft.3in. (160 x 100 cm). White to brown wool warps, three thin brown wool weft shoots. Symmetrical knots, 6.h,11.v = ca. 66 kpsi. Soft, full and extremely meaty handle. One kilim end shows red and blue weft fload brocading. Two cord selvage with herring-bone wrapping in two colours, in alternating bands about 7 inches long.
The pile condition is superb, virtually no wear. Very soft, glossy longstaple wool. The selvages and ends are a bit ragged and need some attention. There are three long cuts-and-shuts from the sides that were once made to make the rug lie flat on the floor or remedy its curviness, with some loss of material; two of the medallions are closer together than they should be, for example.
All dyes are without doubt natural and beautifully saturated. Especially nice are the abrashed green and the dark indigo. The field is a lighter abrashed madder brick-red. There is a good straw yellow and a cochenille red. The medium brown is uncorroded, probably an undyed brown wool.
