Armenian "Kohar Carpet" on display at Boston Museum of Fine Arts

PanARMENIAN.Net - The world's most important Armenian rug, the Kohar Carpet, is currently on display at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

This rug, made in either 1680 or 1700 (the exact date is unclear) is a bridge between the medieval Dragon Rugs and the modern rug tradition. The inscription in medieval Armenian on the carpet reads "I Kohar (Jewel), full of sin and weak of soul, with my newly learned hands wove this rug. Whosoever reads this say a word of mercy to God for me".

This unique rug first appeared in London in 1899, as Turkish loot stolen from an Armenian church during the 1894-96 massacres. It was exhibited and documented, and then disappeared into a private collection for decades until 1977 when reemerged and was then showcased in 1985 in the traveling exhibit "Weavers, Merchants, and Kings: The Armenian Carpet", which was the first major exhibit of Armenian Rugs in the West. It is now again in a private collection.

The Kohar Carpet is one of 4 rugs now displayed at the MFA on the second floor next to the Rotunda, but is easily overlooked by visitors due to the other vast collections that are better displayed, and the label gives little background about its importance.

The MFA exhibit "17th and 18th Century Caucasian Rugs" includes both the Kohar Rug and a Dragon Rug, and will end at the end of January, Armenian Library and Museum of America told PanARMENIAN.Net

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