A beautiful and colorful vintage Caucasian Gendje Kazak runner from the late 1800s in excellent pile condition, featuring the distinctive allover skewed stripe pattern of the Gendje weaving tradition — alternating navy and ivory background bands populated with small geometric designs of extraordinary variety and detail. The ivory border with its star design in yellow, blue, and red provides the classic Caucasian frame for which Gendje runners are celebrated.
The Gendje — or Ganja — region of Azerbaijan in the southern Caucasus produced a particularly vigorous and colorful sub-style of Kazak weaving, and the runner format from this region is among the most sought after in the broader Caucasian collecting world. This piece retains a beautiful full pile and has preserved its colors with remarkable freshness after more than a century of existence. Kazak rugs, woven by village artisans in the mountainous region of the South Caucasus — encompassing present-day Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia — are among the most boldly designed and vibrantly colored tribal rugs in the world. Their large-format geometric medallions, brilliant vegetable-dyed palette, and the thick, lustrous pile made from high-altitude mountain wool have made them enduringly sought after by collectors and interior designers who prize authenticity, energy, and the beauty of genuine handcraft.
Dimensions: 3' 9" x 9' 3"
Date of Manufacture: 4th Quarter of the 1800s
Place of Origin: Caucasus (Gendje/Ganja, Azerbaijan)
Material: Wool pile on a wool foundation with vegetable dyes
