10
Elk
Kaitag region, south-west Daghestan
18th century or earlier
78 x 120 cm
silk embroidery on cotton
The central diamond-shaped medallions are surrounded by elk or deer with extended horns. They are reminiscent of a 5th to 6th century BC bronze from Georgia, or an ancient rock carving in Gobustan, 100 kilometres south of Baku in Azerbaijan. The end bands are both filled with a unique reciprocal border of twin-horned forms alternating with humanoids, surrounded by small hieroglyphs, animals and horns. Against the fiery red ground cloth, the eight colours of laid and couched silk are dominated by large areas of yellow chequered infill, which daringly changes to white, red or blue in the central diamond. The outline stem stitch and reverse double chain stitch are, unusually, suppressed, thereby emphasising the animals and chequered shapes.
text and images © Sakip
Sabanci Museum, Istanbul
and textile-art, London, 2007:
not to be reproduced without permission