Lot 76

SEYCHOUR RUNNER

Hand knotted wool carpet on wool warp. A collector's piece with a very full fleece and fanciful vivid colours, the most time-consuming and technically complicated of which was the production of the sulphurous green dye - for this, the hand-spun sheep's yarn had to be boiled and steeped in indigo (plants of the genus Indigofera) before being redyed with yellow dyes from flowers (St. John's wort, chamomile, etc.) to produce the rich green that characterises the Seychour treads. The breathtaking palette of purely natural colours is typical of its place of origin, which is also famous for its unusual composition, dominated by the X-shaped ornaments of the so-called St Andrew's Cross. It seems that this symbol was not used by Caucasian binders until the second half of the 19th century, and was seen on Russian textiles at a time when the expanding Tsarist Russia was steadily absorbing Transcaucasian territories. The wide blue-green border is decorated with lush crimson-red rose flowers. The border of unfurling roses is further surrounded by an inner band of cobalt blue and a striking outer border of white forms a very striking contrast to the whole, also known among experts as the 'running dog border'. It is no wonder that these interesting carpets found their way into opulent aristocratic mansions as early as the Victorian period and that to this day this Caucasian composition is considered one of the most attractive.