5' x 14'4" Antique Caucasian Sumak Kilim Runner | Eagle Kazak Medallions | Circa 1940s

Dark, long and drawn from end to end with small tribal ornament, this Caucasian Sumak runner measures 5' x 14'4" and dates to the 1940s. It is a true flat weave with no pile: the ornament is built with the wrapped Sumak brocade stitch worked over a plain woven ground, which is why the surface has that raised corded ridge you can feel with a hand and why the piece carries real weight for a rug without knots. A column of ivory-outlined octagonal medallions runs the length of the indigo field, broken by wide burgundy cross panels, and both ends finish in hand-tied ivory fringe above a saw-tooth end stripe. The weave is sound throughout, the colors are unfaded, and the rug ships with our certificate of authenticity.

Design and Motifs

The composition is a straight repeat rather than a single centered medallion, which is exactly what you want in a runner this long. Each indigo compartment holds an octagon outlined in a braided ivory line, flanked left and right by long arrow-shaped panels striped in burgundy and near black. Between the compartments sit broad burgundy bands carrying stepped star rosettes in teal blue with red crosses at their tips, the drawing that gives eagle Kazak weaving its name. Around them the weaver filled every open inch with scarlet tree and comb forms, small bird figures, latch-hook diamonds and tiny hooked crosses, no two quite identical. Narrow reciprocal guard stripes in ivory and dark brown frame a main border of X devices, and the end panels carry a row of stylized tulip heads in ivory, gold and red, a hallmark of the best antique tribal rugs.

Indigo, Burgundy and Ember Red

The field is a deep indigo blue that shifts between ink and midnight as light moves across the ridged weave, with a gentle abrash banding visible in the close photographs where one dye lot met the next. Against it the weaver set aubergine burgundy panels, close to oxblood at the edges and warmer in the cross bands, so the two darks read as separate colors rather than one mass. The lift comes from madder red: hot scarlet tree motifs and rosette centers scattered the whole length. A clear teal blue carries the star medallions, ivory picks out the medallion outlines, the barber-pole guard stripes and the fringe, and small touches of saffron gold, sage green and charcoal appear in the border tulips and the field fillers. The overall effect is jewel dark, not dull, and it sits well on both pale oak and grey stone floors.

Sumak Weaving in the Caucasus

Sumak takes its name from the weaving towns of the eastern Caucasus and describes a technique rather than a single village: the colored weft is wrapped around the warps by hand instead of knotted and cut, leaving a flat brocaded face and long floating tails on the reverse, clearly visible where this piece is folded back. Because there is no pile to crush or shed, a well made Sumak wears differently from a knotted rug and holds its drawing for generations, which is one reason collectors chase Caucasian examples of this age. Buyers new to the category often want to know how a Caucasian weave relates to Persian work, and our guide on Persian rugs vs Oriental rugs answers it properly. At 14'4" long and only 5' wide, this one was made for a corridor, and it is a rare length among genuine antique hallway runners.