Shusha Rugs
Capital of Karabagh, (Shusha also Romanized as Shushi) named after a Qal’a (Arabic for fortress). Shusha Qal’a is a fortress surrounding the historical center of Shusha city. Formerly called “Panahabad fortress” named after Panah Ali Khan who was the founder of the fort. In later years, the city was just called “Fortress”. After a certain period of time, people named it the “Shusha fortress” and later it was simply called “Shusha”. The name of Shusha was probably derived from the name of Shushikend village which was near the location where the fort was built.
Karabagh is a landlocked mountainous region located south of Armenia, west of Azerbaijan Republic near Ganja, and north of Araxes which is the Iranian border. The weave tradition of the area has continued for millenniums, receiving continuously fresh airs of coming nomads and changing city-styles. Shusha was a big weaving center producing royal and city-styled Persian carpets during the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Under Russians the production increased largely and exporting to the West became much easier.
Technical aspects and the structure of Shusha Rugs
Shusha rugs are all wool. Long-piled and fleshy. Wool used is the best in the area, thick and durable. Knots are symmetric (Turkish) with an average density of 65 per square inch. Shusha Weave follow the structure of Persian carpet centers like Heriz, Ardabil and Tabriz. Carpets and big rug sizes are common as well as long runners. Kellegi (Kelle) is the favored size. These are rather wide runners. Rare small sizes, such as squares are also found.
Dyeing and painting of Shusha rugs
Camel, indigo and rosy dominant shusha palette. The latter is a deep rosy obtained from madder’s root. Cochineal, too, used in many Shusha rugs. The red obtained from cochineal called Qirmiz (Kermez) which means ‘insect-like’ in Persian. Secondary palette consisted of golden camel, yellow and saffron; olive, grass and jade; crimson, vermillion, purple and pink; and blues: from light indigo to azure. Ivory and black used in Shusha pieces are undyed wool.
Designs and patterns of the Shusha rugs
Lots of Persian floral designs have their geometric interpretation in Shusha. These include mainly designs made with boteh, mina khani, and Herati patterns. Shusha designs tend to be intricate. They are full of delightful details.
Mina khani is an overall pattern consisting of two or more flower blossoms connected by a diamond lattice. There are many versions of this pattern. It seems to be a variant of the Herati pattern which developed in eastern Persia.
