What does Kazak mean on a rug listing?

It is a weaving group name from the Caucasus, not a maker. Kazak appears in around a hundred and twenty titles on Sellingantiques, more than any other regional name in the category. Under the Kazak heading sit narrower village names, Bordjalou, Karachov, Fachralo, Sewan, Lori Pambak and Chelaberd among them. Those are the pieces dealers name most precisely.

How old are most of these rugs?

The dealer-entered dates run from 1750 to 1940, with the great bulk falling in the 1880s, 1890s and 1900s. The 1920s and 1870s follow, then the 1910s and 1930s. Earlier decades are thin, and the single 18th-century entry stands alone, a Kuba blossom carpet of 220 by 566cm. Where a listing gives only 19th century rather than a decade, that is the dealer declining to be more precise.

Which sizes and shapes turn up?

Small-to-medium pile rugs dominate, roughly a metre to a metre and a half by one and a half to two and a half metres. Titles usually record the exact centimetres. Beyond that, runners and long rugs are common, several of them between four and a half and five and a half metres. At the extremes sit bag faces of about 60 by 60cm and kelleh carpets over five and a half metres long, plus one narrow rug of 433 by 68cm titled as of unusual proportions.

Do any of these rugs carry a woven date?

Nineteen titles say the rug is dated. The years quoted include 1855, 1856, 1871, 1883, 1888, 1892, 1902, 1908, 1909, 1910 and 1936. Several give the year twice, in Islamic and Gregorian reckoning together, so a title may read 1306 (1888) or 1328 (1910).

Are there Caucasian rugs made outside the Caucasus?

Yes, and they are a recurring note in the category. Turkish Kayseri, Oushak, Yagcebedir and Terekeme pieces appear, along with an Afghan rug and an Ardabil village rug, all titled as carrying a Caucasian design. Alongside them sit weavings from neighbouring areas listed in the same category: Kurdish rugs, Karaja, Heriz, Sarab, Bakshaish, Afshar and Jaf Kurd. This group is a noticeable minority and growing in live stock.

Who made antique Caucasian rugs?

No makers are recorded. These were woven in villages and by nomadic groups for domestic use, dowry and trade, and they are listed by regional name instead. Only one title in the whole category mentions a signature by the weaver. Otherwise the closest thing to an attribution is the village or district name, such as Perepedil, Seichur or Konagkend.

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Antique Caucasian Rugs

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Wool pile rugs and flatweaves from the villages and nomad camps of the Caucasus, woven for the floor, the dowry chest and the pack animal, and named after the district they came from rather than any maker.