Kuba Rugs

The prolific rug weaving Kuba region is on the western side of the Caspian Sea, north of the Shirvan area and south of the more mountainous Dagestan district. The population is primarily Turkic and a dialect of Turkish is the local language. It is presently part of the Republic of Azerbaijan, once a part of the Soviet Union and independent since 1991. The region has given its name as a misnomer to "Kabistan", relatively finely knotted, intricately patterned rugs from the Eastern Caucasus. This is an old and misleading term, and it has been long banished from contemporary rug literature. Nothing is a Kabistan or Cabistan these days.

Weaving has been a local craft since the mid-eighteenth century and professional workshops must have been in operation to produce such important pieces as the yellow ground Dragon carpet now in Qatar. There are a small number of antique rugs with directional palmette patterns clearly of Persian origin that may also be ascribed to the Kuba area. Carpets that are not so attributed are the [...]

The prolific rug weaving Kuba region is on the western side of the Caspian Sea, north of the Shirvan area and south of the more mountainous Dagestan district. The population is primarily Turkic and a dialect of Turkish is the local language. It is presently part of the Republic of Azerbaijan, once a part of the Soviet Union and independent since 1991. The region has given its name as a misnomer to "Kabistan", relatively finely knotted, intricately patterned rugs from the Eastern Caucasus. This is an old and misleading term, and it has been long banished from contemporary rug literature. Nothing is a Kabistan or Cabistan these days.

Weaving has been a local craft since the mid-eighteenth century and professional workshops must have been in operation to produce such important pieces as the yellow ground Dragon carpet now in Qatar. There are a small number of antique rugs with directional palmette patterns clearly of Persian origin that may also be ascribed to the Kuba area. Carpets that are not so attributed are the long 17th-18th century Dragon and Palmette carpets called "Kuba" in the older literature. Today, they are assigned to workshops in the Karabagh town of Shusha. Their heavy, thick structure, akin to Bidjars, is totally antithetical to the thinner, low pile 18th century small, more definitely Kuba rugs.

The Kustar method, a cottage industry variant in which designs and materials were farmed out by the town carpet dealers to the local weavers, was developed in the 19th century to facilitate the vast expansion of carpet weaving to satisfy the export market. Kuba was and always has been a commercial weaving region, and the notion that the finer quality rugs were woven for the weavers' own use is simply wrong. The better the rug, the higher price it will fetch, and the weavers are always in need of money.

The structure of Kuba rugs is generally quite uniform across the various subtypes. The foundation is all wool, with light beige handspun warps and matching, undyed ecru wefts. The pile is always handspun, two ply wool, generally cut to about one quarter inch high. Alternate warps may be flat or depressed and the knot count is 60-100 per square inch. The handle of genuinely antique pieces is relatively pliable and only on later rugs does it become firmer as the warps move to two levels. The selvages are two or three cord blue overcast, and the blue often continues onto the ends where it forms a narrow Soumak wrapped strip. At both ends, the free warps are bunched together and knotted into a net about two inches wide. The upright village loom is standard, and most rugs are scatter or runners. There are virtually no pile room size carpets.

The other Kuba technique, Soumak weft wrapping, is used on rugs and larger carpets up to 10 feet by 14 feet. The result is a flat carpet, often with multiple flattened geometric medallions. The loose ends of the pattern yarn appear on the verso and make a kind of underlay. Soumak carpets wear surprisingly well and can always be turned over for additional wear.

The dyes of antique pieces follow the general oriental pattern: madder for the reds and pinks, indigo for all blues, weld for the yellows, green as an overdye of weld over indigo, oak galls, and iron pyrite for the brown-black. This latter renders the wool brittle and usage breaks it, resulting in an etched effect. The weavers are fully cognizant of this and many Kuba rugs have a recessed dark brown ground.

There are many villages, or village types, in the Kuba region, many of which are justly famous in the rug literature. Zeychur is best known for its diagonal, St. Andrew's cross design. On a royal blue ground, with crisp yellow outlines, this is a truly classic Caucasian. The Zeychur medium blue and white “wave" border, accompanied by red and rose-tone on tone rosette minors, is the classic frame. Related to the Zeychur is the Zejwa sunburst medallion design, often with Zeychur wave borders. The Alpan design of "scorpions" in diagonal hexagons is a popular Kuba design. Another Alpan pattern is a complex ascending palmette layout. The Konagend pattern, usually white on dark blue is a complex, angular arabesque lattice. The Perpedil rams horn design, and the Chi-Chi star and rosette pattern are found also on Shirvan rugs woven immediately to the south. Other Kuba patterns include allovers of small, one-way palmettes, floral lattices, carnations and roses, and geometric designs borrowed from Lesghi to the north and Shirvan to the south. The Karagashli pattern with a pole medallion of stepped hexagons with sunburst finials also appears on Shirvan rugs. The Kuba versions are more elegant, the Shirvan renditions busier and larger. Kuba borders are often in a Kufesque pattern, derived from Islamic calligraphy, of knots and brackets. The Chi-Chi border of diagonal bars and eight-point rosettes is also classic. The overall patterns are always geometric and intricate without being overly busy. Kuba does well-filled, not bold and spacious. On some older antique Kuba kellegis (gallery rugs) we find Persian Harshang (Crab) and Avshan allover patterns. There are Kuba prayer rugs with their own vocabularies, including diagonal rainbow stripes, ogival lattices with stylized flowers, geometric arabesque trellises, as well as those patterns found on regular rugs.

The best period for antique Kubas is the 1850-1900 era. After the Bolshevik Revolution, Caucasian rugs became part of the Five-Year Plans and this was detrimental to their rustic individuality. Kubas can be found in good condition with real colors and plenty of life, if one does a little looking. They have never gone out of fashion and are wonderful accompaniments to New England style furnishings. They mix well with Persian village rugs and make excellent color accent pieces on their own.