Three Caucasian masterpieces lead Rippon Boswell’s sale

Rippon Boswell’s Autumn Auction takes place on Saturday 21 November 2026 at 2pm GMT. A regular highlight of the international rug calendar, it is always interesting to see what the company’s long-established relationships have attracted for these headline sales. With 264 lots, this is a slightly larger sale than usual, with a higher proportion of carpets from Tibet, China and East Turkestan (21 lots) and of 19th-century Caucasian rugs and flatweaves (65 pieces) than in recent sales. The Wiesbaden rooms are well known for offering some of the best Uzbek suzanis on the market, and there is a large group of 18 in this sale.

Lot 161 A Kazak animal-tree rug, Southwest Caucasus, early 19th century Ex Kailash Gallery; no comparable example known Estimate €24,000 to €30,000

Lot 196 A Lenkoran carpet, Southeast Caucasus, circa 1800 Ex Peter Bausback and Eberhart Herrmann Estimate €30,000 to €40,000

There is a good group of northeast Caucasian sumakhs, but three Caucasian rugs are my highlights of the sale. The first is the early 19th-century tree Kazak, lot 161 (estimate €24,000 to €30,000), first published by Kailash Gallery in 1994 and bought from Kailash at TEFAF by the late collector from whose collection it is now consigned. The catalogue describes it as an animal-tree Kazak, a reference to the curved, head-like forms that bring to mind the waq-waq or talking tree, a design known from other weavings and mentioned in Ferdowsi’s epic, the Shahnama. This is truly one of the great one-of-a-kind 19th-century Caucasian rugs, bringing together strong colour contrasts, a dynamic and bold design, and the clear, crisp, unpretentious material quality that epitomises the best of 19th-century Caucasian weaving.

The second is lot 196, a Lenkoran carpet (estimate €30,000 to €40,000), which has the same iconic character and material quality but expresses it with totemic power rather than the charm of lot 161. Well published by Bausback and Herrmann, it also helps, through its different range of colours, to pinpoint the chromatic nuances between the territories of the Caucasus. The colours of these early Lenkorans cannot be beaten, especially as their fine knotting and greater width give a larger canvas on which to deploy them.

Lot 197 A Caucasian palmette carpet, Shirvan Khanate, East Caucasus, circa 1700 or earlier Ex Orient Stars Collection Estimate €30,000 to €40,000

The third is the Caucasian palmette carpet, lot 197 (estimate €30,000 to €40,000), an exceptionally powerful, early and important carpet with an equally distinguished publication history (Schürmann and Kirchheim). I know this carpet well from Orient Stars. The restoration, which clarifies the design and preserves the carpet, presents it afresh to my eyes, but its majesty remains intact. While its forms are considered to be inspired by Ottoman embroideries, to my eye the relationship is more complex than one thing simply resembling another, and the references point rather towards Turkmen and early Safavid carpet weaving in Persia.

Lot 102 A Shahsavan sumak bag face with arrow-guls, Moghan-Savalan, Southeast Caucasus, circa 1800 Estimate €7,000 to €8,500

Lot 107 A Jaff Kurd bag with an animal border, Kurdistan, Northwest Persia, mid-19th century Estimate €4,500 to €5,500

It would be tempting to discuss the best of the bags in the sale, such as the excellent Jaf bag, lot 107 (estimate €4,500 to €5,500), or the Shahsavan cruciform sumakh bag (estimate €7,000 to €8,500), with its fine weave, excellent colours and an ample height that gives the design its full expression. Or to turn to the Ming Chinese carpet fragments, in particular a fine fragment of the important Tiffany Palace Carpet, lot 3 (estimate €2,500 to €3,000), which sold for $1.7 million at Christie’s New York in 2020, and the carpet and border fragment from the first half of the 17th century, lot 7, with the raw silk foundation and large knot associated with the early palace carpets.

Lot 99 A Bakshaish landscape carpet, Azerbaijan, Northwest Persia, circa 1800 Ex Eberhart Herrmann, Munich; the only known blue-ground example in 1991 Estimate €15,000 to €18,000Jacqueline Anne Peker — Lot 99 A Bakshaish landscape carpet, Azerbaijan, Northwest Persia, circa 1800 Ex Eberhart Herrmann, Munich; the only known blue-ground example in 1991 Estimate €15,000 to €18,000

Lot 188 A Shakhrisabz suzani, Southwest Uzbekistan, circa 1800 Estimate €8,500 to €12,000

However, I would like to draw attention to two final pieces: one Persian carpet and one suzani. Lot 99 is a Bakhshaish landscape carpet from circa 1800, published by Herrmann (estimate €15,000 to €18,000), that is a joy to behold. The dark ground lends depth to the flat perspective and enhances the whimsical nature of the composition. The blues, soft pinks and yellows are all characteristic of later Bakhshaish carpets, but this piece shows that their slightly rougher physical character is part of their charm rather than an indication of lesser quality. Finally, from the group of suzanis, which shines a light on large-medallion variants, lot 188, a Shakhrisabz suzani (estimate €8,500 to €12,000), has an unusual chromatic composition, and the density of its design and embroidery almost conceals the quality of the piece.