Seychour – Kuba, Northeast Caucasus

The Seichour weavers of Kuba commanded many visual formats, and this rug carries their most emblematic: the compressed cross of Saint Andrew. A series of these grand cruciform icons, in ochre gold and navy, lines the ivory field among the stylized florals called ispigyulchichi — the “white flower”. Each cross connects to others only partially visible at the edges, tracing the elaborate, infinite network the artist held in her mind: the design does not end, it continues beyond the rug. Saturated primary tones charge the whole with energy; the observer’s curiosity does the rest.

The St Andrew’s crosses on ivory form the most emblematic Seichour design — the format by which the subtype is known in major collections.