Talish or Daghestan 19th century carpet

WARP: cream and brown wool sometimes plied together; Z2S; 15 threads to the inch (60 per dm).

WEFT: wool; light brown in lower half and brown in upper half; Z2S; 2 shoots, sometimes 3, after each row of knots; 7 and a half knots to the inch (30 per dm).

PILE: wool; 9 colours: red, yellow, green, light green, green/blue, blue, light purple, dark brown, cream; symmetrical knot tied around 2 warp threads (NB: occasdional part rows of double knotting, eg in the main border cream ground above lowest left pair of dark brown squares: together with weft inserts they control the shape); 56 or 60 knots to the sq. inch (900 or 960 per sq. dm).

SIDE FINISH: both sides have a web of 3 cords worked in blocks of dark brown, yuellow and red wool, 24 cms. max to 5 cms. minimum.

END FINISH: lower: incomplete; 4 cms. max plain weave, first 2 cms. in cream wool and then in light brown weft with 2 shoots of light brown and then cream dividing the bands. Some evidence of twisted warp loops of 2 cms. Upper: incomplete; 3.5 cms. max. of plain weave in brown wool.

DESIGN: field: dark brown ground with 13 bands of alternately four or five offset floral sprigs, the flowers heart-shaped and in various colours; the geometric stems and leaves in alternate bands of red and green, sometimes linked horizontally to form a band of lattice. A reciprocal diamond-head pattern in cream on dark brown edges the field.

Main border: cream ground with large rosettes in various colours separated by two pairs of small squares each dissected into eight, mostly brown, some blue, the lower green and red pairs having a floral appearance.

Inner and outer border: red ground with, mostly, two-colour, eight-petalled squares in a line. In each side border there are additional floral and geometric motifs together with four animal figures - two are horned.