Old Kazak | 240 x 140 cm | Nr. 20051

Geometric old Kazak, rust red with border and signature

Origin	Kazakhstan
Dimensions	240 cm x 140 cm (= 3.36 m²)
Construction	hand-knotted
Material	Pile: wool (hand-spun, natural dyes) Weft & Warp: wool
knots per m²2	120.000
Pile height	4mm
Year of manufacture	1930
Colour	Rust red, Dark blue
Edition	one-of-a-kind piece

Origin

Kazak (also spelled Kasak) rugs belong to the group of Caucasian rugs. Rugs have been made in the Caucasus since the end of the 18th century. Their hallmark is abstract geometric tribal patterns in primary colours. The geometric and, more rarely, floral motifs are typically rendered in intense, high-contrast colours. In the 19th century a considerable share of these rugs, produced mainly in villages, was exported to the West under Russian control. This old Kazak is around 90 years old and a real collector's piece.

Pattern

The abstract, geometric composition is what gives this Kazak its understated elegance. The pattern flatters the design of a room and never draws attention away from the furniture, the decoration or the architectural features. It settles beautifully into any setting and complements the furnishings of a room in a subtle way.

The ornate border forms a wonderful contrast with the centre and shapes the transition at the edge of the rug.

A special highlight of this Kazak is its signature. The signature documents that it was made in one of the most renowned knotting workshops in Kazak. Written in Arabic characters, it speaks of this rug's individuality and its noble origin.

The background of this Kazak is rust red. The border is worked in rust red, dark blue and beige.

Condition

This Kazak has a story to tell. It was hand-knotted around 1930. We have cleaned it thoroughly and restored it with great care. Despite its age, it is therefore in very good condition.

Material

The technique used to prepare the materials for the pile of this Kazak is more than 200 years old. The wool was dyed with natural dyes and spun by hand. Dyeing with natural or plant dyes is more complicated, more expensive and more time-consuming than dyeing with chemical colours. For a luminous red, for example, you need around one kilo of ground madder root as dyestuff per kilo of wool. For a strong yellow that is not too pale, you even need two kilograms of weld per kilo of wool. Spinning the wool is just as time-consuming and labour-intensive. What is more, fewer and fewer people still master spinning wool by hand.

But the effort is worth it: dyeing with natural colours lets the high-quality wool keep its natural lanolin content. Wool that has been naturally dyed and hand-spun creates fascinating, shimmering patterns. The charm of hand-spun wool, with its slight irregularities and natural shades, comes into its own as a contrast in modern interiors, but equally in rooms furnished in a more traditional or country-house style. The foundation (weft and warp threads) of this Kazak is made of new wool.