Antique Armenian Tavush Rug

Origin: Tavush Province, Shamshadin district, Armenia. A comparable example can be seen published in Manya Ghazarian's Armenian Carpet, from the collection of the National Museum of Armenian Ethnography at the Sardarapat Memorial in the village of Araks.

Age: 1920 to early 1930s, ~90-105 years old

Design: Three medallions of a mirrored altar or archway design, with confronted serpents on either vertical end of the interior of the medallions. The field and middle of the medallions feature a cross in the form of an abstracted rosette or sun burst. A primary border features an eternity symbol of an eight-pointed star, with thin secondary borders of cruciforms.

Colors: A mix of natural plant dyes and some modern dyes. Shades of blue from Indigo (indigofera tinctoria, also known as true indigo.) Shades of red including a burnt brown-red from madder root (rubia tinctorum, or dyer’s madder). Natural ivory. Shades of pinkish red and pale green-brown from presumably modern sources. Oxidized black wool.

Foundation: Natural wool warp of several colors twisted together, two shoots of red wool weft.

Pile: Wool, clipped short.

Knotting: Symmetrical

Size: 6 feet 6 inches by 4 feet

Condition: Good condition with excellent quality dyes and durable, lustrous Armenian highland wool. Slight loss to the outer borders on the top and bottom ends, which have been secured. The pile has a slight carved appearance which is due to oxidation of different dyes over a century.