Quba (Kuba) Rugs
Quba (also Romanized as Kuba, Guba and Kuwa) lies on the north-eastern slopes of Shahdag Mountain on the right bank of the Kudyal River. Shahdag means the King Mountain and there are still ruins of an ancient castle on it attributed to the Sasanid King of Kings Anushirvan the Righteous.
The city used to be a center for a district south of Derbend in the northeastern Caucasus, which was formerly a khanate owing periodic allegiance to Persia. Like other Transcaucasian khanates, Quba Khanate, was occupied by Czarist Russia in the early 19th century and formally annexed to the Russian Empire under the agreement of 1813 between Qajar-ruled Persia and Czarist Russia.
Today, it is the capital of the Quba Rayon (district) of the Azerbaijan Republic and a center of carpet weaving industry in this Caucasian country. There, located a carpet making company called “Qadim Quba” meaning “Old Quba” or “the Quba of the old.
Indeed, rug and kilim weaving has an old continues tradition in the area. The carpet “Golu Chichi” woven in Quba around 1700, exhibited today in the Metropolitan Museum, indicates the fact.
‘Quba’ Romanization is preferred today for the city, while ‘Kuba’ is used frequently as trade-name for rugs and kilims woven in the city and its surrounding area.
Technical aspects and the structure of Quba Rugs
Quba rugs are the finest of all Caucasian rugs.
Antique rugs of Quba are finely knotted. Mostly small in size, they have an average knot density of 115 knots per square inch. Knots are symmetrical (Turkic).
Wool is the main raw material in Quba. Wefts may be either cotton or wool.
Rug and runner sizes are common, including very long runners.
Kilims too are finely woven in Quba. Resembling to tapestries, these easy carrying pieces have lots of uses like hanging from a wall or packing a box.
Dyeing and painting of Quba rugs
Quba’s weavers are best known for their coloring genius. The master dyers obtain the most saturated hues with which weavers bring life to their simple or complicated geometric shapes.
Madder rose in several shades makes Quba pieces energetic. Deep yellow, camel, azure, pistachio, apricot, cream and dark green used artistically for both dominant and secondary colors.
Designs and patterns of the Quba rugs
All designs are geometric here. Rows of medallions make the major structure for rugs and Kilims, like in all Caucasia.
In Quba the central portion of such repeating medallions is a diamond with arrows projecting from both ends.
A famous design attributed to Quba is called Alpan Kuba. It consists of a medallion surrounded by four elongated hexagons.
Another design attributed to Quba is “Chichi” which is indeed a margin design. It is a distinctive margin consists of diagonal bars alternating with large blossoms. Pieces which such a margin are also called Chichi.
Borders are also important in kilims of Quba. Normally a complete border surrounds the kilim.
