Mae Festa 50 Years of Collecting Textiles - Peter Pap Oriental Rugs

MIDDLE EAST – Caucusus
Kaitag
18 th Century
Daghestan
Silk floss embroidery with couching
on hand loomed cotton.
61 x 99 cm 24 x 39 in
Kaitags were ritual cloths woven by women to
be used at times of birth, weddings, and death.
The dimensions of almost all kaitags we see confirm
their use as crib covers for infants. They also were
used at funerals to cover the face of the dead.
The isolation of these mountain communities
resulted in an unbroken chain of traditional design.
The colorful forms show combinations of clouds,
sunbursts, reindeer, dragons, horns, octagons,
squares, as well as tree-like and animal forms.
244