Shirvan bag

Shirvan and Kuba weavings from the east Caucasus are generally typified by smaller pieces such as prayer and scatters rugs. Bags and trappings are much less common. This Caucasian Shirvan bag and its mate once made up a set of double animal bags known as a ‘khorjin’. Each would have been draped across a horse or donkey, and used for storing a variety of goods while on the move. The diagonal striped design of the knotted pile bagface most likely originated from a flatwoven sumak technique pattern. Its rendering in pile may have been seen as a luxurious take on a familiar pattern.