This Shahsevan soumac technique bag from the southern Caucasus is of fine quality and executed superbly. The bag face is silk wefted and there are several highlights with sea-green silk woven throughout the piece. The central cruciform with corner pieces is an iconic type for these bags. Though the full design may have originated as a specific design to flat-weaves, the quartered center within the medallion may be traced back to so-called Holbein repeat patterns of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The Shahsevan Confederacy was formed as a political alliance among the various powerful nomadic tribes at the northwest borders of the Safavid Persian empire. The term literally means, ﾓloyal to the Shahﾔ and indicates that despite their Turkic origins, these tribesman retained allegiance to the Persian king. One small rewoven area in field
size: 1' 10" x 3' 10"
inv# 16115