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Carpet. Wool. Pile-weave. Iravan group. Keshishkend, Daralayaz, western Azerbaijan. 263x134. 1286 AH/1865 CE.
The date 1286 AH appears inside the light blue background gyol (medallion) at the top of the carpet. The carpet was woven on the basis
of the “Malibeyli” composition of Karabakh. Carpets with this composition were woven in different carpet weaving centers of Kara-
bakh. The name of the carpet is related to the Malibeyli village located fifteen kilometers from the city of Shusha. The population of this
village was engaged in breeding cattle, craftsmanship, and particularly weaving carpets. Later “Malibeyli” carpets were woven in other
districts of Karabakh and carpet weaving quarters in western Azerbaijan. This carpet belonging to the Iravan Group is distinguished
from carpets woven in other carpet weaving quarters of Karabakh due to the black warps and argajs.
The main decoration of this red background carpet is comprised of three large originally formed gyols located in the middle field.
Four-angled elements are placed in the center of the gyols. Charkhi-falak (the ups and downs of life) motifs are represented inside these
elements. On opposite sides on the inside of the charhovuz (basin), there are face-to-face duck images. The ducks are surrounded with
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