Avar connection?

Hi Horst,

You say that you did not see any design related to the Sinagogue Rug among Avar rugs.
I wonder if you are aware of this kind of design in what are commonly believed to be Avar Kilims:









I copied also the Synagogue Rug for better comparison.

Notice that, in my opinion, a possible “Avar connection” doesn’t exclude at all the plausibility of your theory.

Regards,

Filiberto

Hello Filiberto,

it seems, the Ark motive has meandered throughout the eastern Trans-Caucasus and can be held responsible for many floral and some zoomorphic motives, such as in the “Avar”-Kelims you are showing us. The echo is very faint though in this particular case. I doubt, very many would have seen a connection between those kelims and what Doris Eder / Ian Bennett hold to be an “Avar Throne” before this Salon – both authors evidently had the pile rugs (“Tachte Shirvan”) in mind, not the kelims, whose motive is obviously floral and much conventionalised.

In my personal “nomenclature” this would suggest they are a later form - art historically, not age-wise, although the latter might also be correct.

There exists a substantial number of fine Daghestan rugs, especially in the group with a lace design, with the late floral form of the Ark, some dating to early 19th century. The “Avar”- Kelims, if this is what they are, may have been modelled on those. They appear to be the interpretation, not the original.

Many rugs with a lace design (not all though), this seems worth mentioning, display the Ark turned 180°, thus the gable motive (those “beagle-ears”) becoming the leaves flanking the upright pod or blossom. A particularly pretty rug demonstrating the principle (without a lace in this particular case) is plate 388, a white 18th century Kuba-Seichur in the Eder / Bennett book which I trust you have on your shelf (have a look at some of those red blossom motives). Does it dawn on you? We are looking at something that could be called a late Shield-Rug - possibly with an interpretation of the Ark in the middle of it!

Looking at the "modern" blossom-like Torah Shrine motive on the Synagogue Carpet ("modern" from a 15th century perspectice) and visually blending it with the ancient "ark"- motive of plate 09 and 10, I can see much of what makes those 16th century shield carpets, the pronounced gable or fork in the "ark"- motive transferring into the protective palmettes.

Regards,

Horst

Hi Horst,

About Avar Kilims being interpretations of motifs from knotted rugs, I have a few doubts and caveats.
First, the weavers in the highlands of Daghestan weren’t exposed to commercialization like in other parts of Caucasus, while they had a long tradition of producing their “davaghins” (or “dums” for the Kumyks) - i.e. the long kilims posted above - for their own use.
For this reasons it’s more likely that they used their traditional patterns. These kilims can be quite old too, given the habit of hanging them to the walls of the highlanders' houses.

I met in person a “davaghin”, one of those with Fachralo-like medallions, it was dated 1863 and in very good conditions for its age. It was presented in a Show and Tell thread last year, together with a bunch of similar examples (showing also the same age) found on the Web. Were the medallions copied from a Fachralo or it was the other way around? 1863 was rather a pre-commercial period for the Caucasus or am I wrong?

As Paul Ramsey wrote in his article in Hali 89, 1996 “The Dragon Dums of Daghestan”:
Daghestan dums are weaving of highly local, regional character, as evidenced by their apparently unique structure and distinctive palette.
…
Other types of Daghestan kilims furnish further evidence of influence from classical carpets, but it remains unclear exactly how these influences – and specifically the dragon designs – were transmitted from urban workshops to the villages of the northeastern Caucasus.

Regards,

Filiberto

Hi Filiberto

This is an Avar felt from a Würzburg/Germany gallery website:



Additional information is: Northern Caucasus, ca. 1900.

The combination of red and blue and an otherwise limited pallette seems to be typical for Avar rugs; now we are discussing them it comes back to me that the one I had seen about half a year ago on ebay, also displayed the same limited range.

Regards,

Horst

Hi Horst,

That image is really familiar. It was already posted in an archived discussion:
Avar/Daghestani Felt Rugs.

Read that discussion please. Taking into account the felts from Daghestan is going to complicate further the matter. I would opt for considering them only as a collateral source of design, though.
Regards,

Filiberto

Hi Horst,

quote:

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I would accept it as an interpretation of the ark design. It's an interesting one, also drawing from the Avar kelim design apparently.
…
Has a date been given?

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quote:

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The combination of red and blue and an otherwise limited pallette seems to be typical for Avar rugs

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The Avar kilim at the right



and the Avar knotted carpet below



both have kilim features; both also have knotted carpet characteristics. So which is closest to the original form? Although both are dramatic pieces, the kilim exemplifies an unnatural, contrived tapestry expression. It is primarily linear and vertical in its patterning, with multiple rows of endless tiny crenellations. In my opinion, the general character of these pieces evolved in knotted pile. The kilim is a copy of a knotted-pile carpet rendition of a kilim design.

Hi Filiberto,

as a context information, the following (links) may be useful.

A v a r s (known as Obri in Rus’ chronicles and Abaroi or Varchonitai in Byzantine sources). A large union of Turkic tribes. The Avars appeared in the steppes west of the Caspian Sea in the middle of the 6th century AD. After moving westward through the territories of today's Ukraine, they stopped for a time in the region north of the Black Sea. Here they persuaded the Alans and Ugrians to join their alliance. In the 560s on their way to the middle Danube River the Avars and their allies invaded the territory of the Antes. The Avars conquered and brought into their alliance a number of Slavic tribes. At the end of the 560s they established a khaganate on the middle Danube with a capital in Pannonia. From there the Avars made successful raids on the Slavs, Franks, Lombards, and Byzantium. As a result they controlled the territories from the Elbe River to Transcaucasia and from the Don River to the Adriatic Sea. The empire, however, lacked any organic political or economic unity, and when the Avars suffered a crushing defeat at Constantinople in 626, a series of revolts began among the subjugated tribes. The most important uprising—the uprising of the western Slavs—was led by Samo, and resulted in the founding of a Slavic state on the territory of present-day Czech Republic and Slovakia. The rise of the Bulgarian Kingdom in 680 and the victory of Charlemagne in 797 put an end to the Avar empire.
(from Encyclopedia Ukrainia)



(image of the moves of the “old” Avar from http://www.hyperhistory.com/)


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_Avars

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_Avars


Whether present day Caucasian Avar are divided from the “old” Avar by time or language or genes or all of it, their felt coverings unmistakably seem to breath the memory of the steppes and pastures of central Asia (of all the rugs I know, they resemble most closely some of the nomadic kelims from the Baliksehir and the Antalya regions in Turkey by colour schema and general appearance - but please, let's not discuss this here and now). They seem to be an authentic ‘weave’.

The Avar kelims on the other hand seem to recrute from several sources: colour schema from the felts, some design pattern like those rather awkward looking ‘fish-spears’ stylised almost beyond recognition also from the felts (please notice what lovely ranks and blossoms they still are on those felts); highly stylised blossoms (if that is what they are) possibly derived from Daghestan area pile rugs that utilized a floral rendering of the ark (often turned 180°) as a field motive; shield motive from anywhere, it apparently being one of the most widely distributed kelim motives in the eastern Caucasus and across the southern border (possibly related to one of the main motives in those dragon carpets). Besides aesthetic wants, those blossoms faintly resemble the ark motive in the Synagogue carpet, be it chance or not. A religious significance in it seems unlikely, the Avar being Sunnite Muslim.

The Lesghi rug plays in a different aesthetic league, it echoes the ark that has been put onto or before a shield in this instance, also accommodating the obligatory birds, all not unlike in the well known shield carpets.

Referring to the piled Avar rug you were saying: “I draw your attention to the motif of the knotted-pile rug. Isn’t that a stepped roof or gable? The “necks” looks suspiciously like birds too.”

It may have been a stepped roof or gable a long time ago; those ‘necks’ or ‘birds’ look as much like birds as they look in some Turkoman designs - to my shame I have to admit, I was never able to decide whether I should think of that interpretation as highly stylised or far-fetched.

Regards,

Horst

Hi Horst,

Quod erat demonstrandum is that design transfer doesn’t happens only in a linear way but - and most often - from different sources and mediums.
The result is that we can find echoes of ancient motives (if I’m right about the “many-necked house”) or more direct renditions in textiles of the same age and almost of the same provenance.
Regards,

Filiberto

Another clue to the possibility that the “many-necked house” could be a rendition of the “Synagogue blossom” is just semantic.

For a highlander, “many-necked house” could be an effective description of the synagogue motif too, don’t you think?
Regards,

Filiberto

Hi Filiberto

I suppose one could call it a ’many-necked house’ if one includes the whole of the blossom and not alone the ark motive in the perception. It is an odd label though and I wonder where Tchirkov got this idea from, what house, who’s necks? It can’t mean an apartment block with everybody peeping out of the open window?

You are asking: “For a highlander, “many-necked house” could be an effective description of the synagogue motif too, don’t you think?” This is the link to the highest village in Azerbaidjanian Caucasus, perhaps they would know?

http://www.xinaliq.com/


Regards,

Horst

quote:

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It is an odd label though and I wonder where Tchirkov got this idea from

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quote:

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Originally posted by Horst Nitz
Hi Filiberto,

as a context information, the following (links) may be useful.

A v a r s (known as Obri in Rus’ chronicles and Abaroi or Varchonitai in Byzantine sources). A large union of Turkic tribes. The Avars appeared in the steppes west of the Caspian Sea in the middle of the 6th century AD. After moving westward through the territories of today's Ukraine, they stopped for a time in the region north of the Black Sea. Here they persuaded the Alans and Ugrians to join their alliance. In the 560s on their way to the middle Danube River the Avars and their allies invaded the territory of the Antes. The Avars conquered and brought into their alliance a number of Slavic tribes. At the end of the 560s they established a khaganate on the middle Danube with a capital in Pannonia. From there the Avars made successful raids on the Slavs, Franks, Lombards, and Byzantium. As a result they controlled the territories from the Elbe River to Transcaucasia and from the Don River to the Adriatic Sea. The empire, however, lacked any organic political or economic unity, and when the Avars suffered a crushing defeat at Constantinople in 626, a series of revolts began among the subjugated tribes. The most important uprising—the uprising of the western Slavs—was led by Samo, and resulted in the founding of a Slavic state on the territory of present-day Czech Republic and Slovakia. The rise of the Bulgarian Kingdom in 680 and the victory of Charlemagne in 797 put an end to the Avar empire.
(from Encyclopedia Ukrainia)



(image of the moves of the “old” Avar from http://www.hyperhistory.com/)


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasian_Avars

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_Avars


Whether present day Caucasian Avar are divided from the “old” Avar by time or language or genes or all of it, their felt coverings unmistakably seem to breath the memory of the steppes and pastures of central Asia (of all the rugs I know, they resemble most closely some of the nomadic kelims from the Baliksehir and the Antalya regions in Turkey by colour schema and general appearance - but please, let's not discuss this here and now). They seem to be an authentic ‘weave’.

The Avar kelims on the other hand seem to recrute from several sources: colour schema from the felts, some design pattern like those rather awkward looking ‘fish-spears’ stylised almost beyond recognition also from the felts (please notice what lovely ranks and blossoms they still are on those felts); highly stylised blossoms (if that is what they are) possibly derived from Daghestan area pile rugs that utilized a floral rendering of the ark (often turned 180°) as a field motive; shield motive from anywhere, it apparently being one of the most widely distributed kelim motives in the eastern Caucasus and across the southern border (possibly related to one of the main motives in those dragon carpets). Besides aesthetic wants, those blossoms faintly resemble the ark motive in the Synagogue carpet, be it chance or not. A religious significance in it seems unlikely, the Avar being Sunnite Muslim.

The Lesghi rug plays in a different aesthetic league, it echoes the ark that has been put onto or before a shield in this instance, also accommodating the obligatory birds, all not unlike in the well known shield carpets.

Referring to the piled Avar rug you were saying: “I draw your attention to the motif of the knotted-pile rug. Isn’t that a stepped roof or gable? The “necks” looks suspiciously like birds too.”

It may have been a stepped roof or gable a long time ago; those ‘necks’ or ‘birds’ look as much like birds as they look in some Turkoman designs - to my shame I have to admit, I was never able to decide whether I should think of that interpretation as highly stylised or far-fetched.

Regards,

Horst

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Hi Filiberto

This is my long overdue reply to your last post, I apologize.

Some time ago our national prince poet and great thinker Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) found the following words to caution against liberal use of categories and abstractions in literature: “Im Ganzen haltet Euch an Worte - dann geht Ihr durch die sichere Pforte zum Tempel der Gewissheit ein (words lead through a safer gate to certainty than abstractions and generalizations do).” Could he have had rug terminology in mind? Building to readily on abstractions and categories inherits the danger of creating a reality uncoupled with the real world.

Such caution seems all the more warranted if there is uncertainty as to background or context of those categories. Tschirkovs credentials would probably be the highest within a Soviet academic context. However, as the book was published in Moscow in 1971 it doubtlessly had to get approval by the state censor, ensuring that everything was represented according to official doctrine. This limits the conclusions that can be drawn from this and other publications at the time.

An example: In the early 19th century the incorporation of Dagestan & Azerbaijan into Tsarist Russia meant that the Mountain Jews became Russian subjects. In 1830 a 30-year uprising against Russia headed by Shamil broke out in the highlands of Dagestan. The rebels founded a fundamentalist Islamic theocracy, an Imamate. All infidels, primarily Jews, had to adopt Islam or flee from the highland villages to areas controlled by the Russian army. Their principal havens of refuge were Derbent in Southern Dagestan along with Krasnaya Sloboda.
In the second 1/2 of the 19th Century migration increased. Mountain Jews moved to centres they had never inhabited before. It was then, that Baku began to grow along with other settlements founded by the Russian authorities. Civil war stimulated further Jewish migration from the isolated and unsafe highland villages. This migration of the Mountain Jews continued throughout the 20th century. Once primarily involved in agriculture, they now live almost entirely within the cities.

This is the kind of historical and political context information necessary to evaluate assumptions by Soviet authors. They would have known about those circumstances but usually have chosen or had to choose to leave them undisclosed.

It is a reasonable assumption that the ark went under the gable of those Daghestan prayer rugs at the time of Shamil as a display of individual alliance with the Islamic national resistance, also ensuring the own skin this way. Oldest rugs of this type date to the early 19th century – coincidence?

Is this historical context considered in Tschirkows book?

Has anybody ever wondered why 180.000 Jews living at the doorstep of one of the great Soviet rug scholars were never mentioned, or why Eiland & Eiland in 'Oriental Carpets' were complaining bitterly about skewed representation of their research on Armenian rugs (‘profound prejudice’ - Chapter 8, note 15, p 359) ?

Regards,

Horst Nitz