The following are a few examples of the art of carpet weaving by Armenians.

Karabagh Rug, The Gohar Carpet
Karabagh Rug
Karabagh Rug, Sunburst Design
Kazak Rug, Sevan Kazak Design
Kazak Rug

Full image

Inscription:
I, gohar, full of sin and weak of soul, with my newly learned hands wove this rug. Whosoever reads this say a word of mercy to God for me. In the year 1149 (1700 A.D.)

KARABAGH RUG, THE GOHAR CARPET
Caucasian, 18th century

This famous rug, called the "Gohar carpet" after the name of the weaver, is an extremely important historical document with a colorful history. The rug was noticed first when it appeared in 1899 in London where it was photographed at the Victoria and Albert Museum, and it was subsequently published by F.R. Martin in 1908. Afterwards, however, it dropped from sight and did not resurface until 1977, when it was sold at auction in London by LeFevre and Partners.

During the time when the carpet's whereabouts were unknown, it continued to elicit comment from historians of the art, particularly since the inscription seemed to provide an early date.

The design of the Gohar Carpet with large elaborate palmettes and medallions relates it to the Kasim Ushag tradition, which, in turn, places it in the context of an extensive series of Caucasian rugs with similar designs that probably began to be made in the seventeenth century and extended into the early nineteenth century. The large palmette designs at each end of the vertical axis are characteristic of these rugs, as are the yellow-field bands at their sides. The central medallion, the four smaller palmettes in the fields at the sides, and the border on the Gohar are all consistent with design elements found in rugs of the seventeenth or eighteenth century. The same border appears on a Dragon rug in the collection of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

Certainly there is no question of its success as a work of art. In balance of design, color , texture and composition, the Gohar must be ranked as an extremely successful and appealing carpet. The Armenian provenance -which can hardly be questioned given the inscription- would seem to help relate a much larger group of rugs to the Armenian weaving tradition.