The field of Caucasian rugs is covered primarily by four types of publication:

1) dealers' sales catalogues of exhibitions
2) publications by individuals of their private collections
3) museum exhibit catalogues
4) Caucasian section in general works on Oriental carpets

In addition, vol. 3/1 Hali (1980) focuses on historical Caucasian carpets, and there have been two international symposia devoted to the subject both held in Baku (1983, 1988). Among the exceptions to these categories of literature are publications by S. Yetkin on early carpets in Turkish collections, and by L. Kerimov et al, on Russian collections.

Azadi, Siawosch and Andrews, Peter A.
1985 Mafrash: Woven Transport Packs as an Art from among the Shahsavan and other Nomads in Persia. Berlin and Munich.

General introduction with ethnographic sketch; discussion of mafrash in terms of name, function, ornamentation, form, size. Incl. field notes on design and terminology, colors, materials/techniques; plates with description and technical analysis; bibliography and glossary. No list of object locations or credits.

Bedoukian, Harold
1982 Natural Dyes in Caucasian Rugs, ORR II/7, pp. 25-26.

Bennett, Ian
1981 Oriental Rugs. Vol.1, Caucasian.

Organized by design and regional attribution (Kazak, Karabagh, Erivan, Gendje, Talish, Moghan, Chajli, Akstafa, Shirvan, Baku, Kuba, Daghestan, Lesghistan) incl. rugs and flatweaves, many illustr. in color.

Benardout, Raymond
1978 Caucasian Rugs. London.

Dealer's exhibition catalogue with text on dyes, structure, classification of 19th century rugs: Kuba, Daghestan, Shirvan, Baku, Tblisi, Moghan, Gendje, Karabagh, Kazak.

Burns, James D.
1987 The Caucasus: Traditions in Weaving. Court Street Press, Seattle

Presentation of Burns' personal views on collecting, and history of Caucasian carpets, flatweaves, and embroidery with focus on his collection; ill. color plates, with short descriptions and technical analysis. No footnotes or bibliography.

Presents inscribed rugs from Turkey, Iran, and the Caucasus in context of Armenian production; provides translations for all inscriptions and dates; authors argue strongly for Armenian attributions. Bibliography, maps, index.

Dodds, Dennis
1985 Oriental Rugs: The Collection of Dr. and Mrs. Robert A. Fisher in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Richmond.

Introduction followed by sections on technique, and catalogue of collection (mainly 19th/20th century) from Caucasus (Azerbaijan and Lesser Caucasus), Anatolia, Iran, Central Asia, China.

Ellis, Charles Grant
1975 Early Caucasian Rugs. The Textile Museum, Washington.

Exhibition catalog for 50th Textile Museum anniversary. Presents important series of 17th/18th century Caucasian carpets with dragons and blossoms; each of 37 plates (many in color), provided with detailed description and structural analysis, list of companion pieces, publication history. Also discusses embroideries, flatweaves. Glossary and bibliography.

Ellis, Charles Grant
1988 Oriental Carpets in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. Pp. 132 - 149.

Presentation of important collection of historical carpets from the Caucasus ("Dragon rugs") with good citations and discussion of comparisons.

Franses, Michael and Pinner, Robert
1980 Caucasian Carpets in the Victoria and Albert Museum: The Caucasian Collection, Hali 3/2, pp. 96 - 115.

Sensible writing on carpets in one of the most important museum collections, with reexamination of traditional attributions.

Gans-Ruedin, E.
1986 Caucasian Carpets. New York.

Features more early historical carpets of the 17th - 18th centuries than other volumes in this Rizzoli series by Gans-Ruedin. Brief introductory discussion of origins, materials and techniques, patterns and borders; well-illustrated with color plates and commentary arranged by region (Kazak, Karabakh, Genje, Shirvan, Kuba, Dagestan) and techniques (flatweaves). Glossary and bibliography.

Kerimov, Liatif
1961 Azerbaidzhan Carpets. Institute of Art and Architecture of the Academy of the Azerbaijan SSR, Baku.

Deals with designs/diagrams from point of view of artist/carpet designer; links place names to designs.

Kerimov, Liatif et al.
1984 Rugs and Carpets from the Caucasus: The Russian Collections. Aurora Art Publishers, Leningrad.

Links 19th - 20th c. products with village names from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia now in museums in Baku, Makhachkala, Yerevan, Tblisi, Moscow, Leningrad, and in private collections; incl. bibliogr. of Russian and Armenian sources; good color plates; no table of contents.

King, Donald
1980 Caucasian Carpets in the Victoria and Albert Museum: The History of the Collection, Hali 3/2, pp.95-96

Discusses history of the Caucasian carpet collection of the V&A, numbering some 90 rugs of the 18th and 19th centuries, about 1/3 of which were acquired by purchase from London shops and dealers between 1878 and 1880, making this one of the oldest Western collections, important for the documentation it offers.

Landreau, Anthony N. and Pickering, W.R.
1969 From the Bosporus to Samarkand: Flat-Woven Rugs. The Textile Museum, Washington.

Seminal presentation of flat-weaves, including kilims, soumak, brocaded rugs, embroidered rugs, coumpound-weaves, mixed techniques, with analysis and discussion of design and provenance. Good documentation; bibliography. B&W ill.

Lefevre & Partners
1977 Caucasian Carpets from the 17th to the 19th Century. London.

Sales catalogue (20 May 1977) with important contributions by Jean Lefevre, "Notes and Observations on Caucasian weavings," and Thompson, Jon, "Anatomy of a Carpet," including discussion of edge finishes, history, reference to travelers' accounts, color plates, detailed descriptions.

Mushak, Paul
Synthetic Dyes, Oriental Rug Review III/7, III/10.

Discusses subject with reference to Caucasian rugs.

Price, William T.
1987 Divine Images and Magic Carpets. Amarillo Art Center, Amarillo.

Color plates of important private collection of 19th century Caucasian pile rugs.

Schurmann, Ulrich.
1967 Caucasian Rugs. Braunschweig/London.

Color plates with descriptions of pile carpets (and a few embroideries) from various districts of the Caucasus offering specific nomenclature (perhaps too specific). Introduction including structure, handle, color, design, dating [he tends to date early], style, map; analyses by F. Spuhler. No object locations or credits.

Shelley, Louise and Wright, Richard E.
1980 Caucasian Rugs in the Late Nineteenth Century, Hali 3/1, pp. 3 - 7.

Assesses rug production in Caucasus between 1820 - 1910 from reports and documentary sources.

Stone, Peter F.
1984 Rugs of the Caucasus: Structure and Design. Greenleaf Co., Chicago.

Logical assessment, based on previously published Caucasian carpets 1820 - 1910, with computer cluster analysis of diagnostic structural features (knot density, foundation, weave, color, length/width proportions). Attempts to confirm attributions based on structural similarities, not by design. Diagrams and charts, but no photographic illustrations.

Tanavoli, Parvis
1989 Shahsavan Pile Carpets, Hali 45, pp. 30 - 37.

Examines several types of south Caucasian pile weavings, previously thought to be from Moghan, and attributes them to the Shahsavan, including khorjin, mafrash end panels and side panels, long rugs, and carpets.

Tanavoli, Parvis
1985 Shahsavan: Iranian Rugs and Textiles. New York.

First comprehensive view of tribal groups located in northwestern Iran, but whose historical migration pattern transcended political boundaries of the 18th and 19th centuries. Based on personal field experience of artist/designer/sculptor/collector.

Tschebull, Raoul
1971 Kazak: Carpets of the Caucasus. New York.

Exhibit catalog with commentary, technical analysis, color plates and bibliography.

Wertime, John and Richard E. Wright
1995 Caucasian Carpets and Covers. Hali Publications, London.

1995 The Tabriz Hypothesis: The Dragon and Related Floral Carpets, in Asian Art, The Second Hali Annual, pp. 30-53, Hali Publications, London.

Reevaluates evidence for production and the evolution of designs in dragon rugs and related carpets; proposes a Tabriz attribution.

Wright, Richard E.
1980 Rugs and Flatweaves of the Transcaucasus. Pittsburgh Rug Society, Pittsburgh.

Comments on history, region, production, design, attribution; footnotes and glossary. Produced in connection with local exhibit. Incl. plates with description and analysis.

1983 The R.E. Wright Research Report. May.

Commentary and translation of travelers' accounts, government reports, and other historical documents concerning production of Caucasian rugs and related materials.

Yetkin, Serare
1978 Early Caucasian Carpets in Turkey. 2 vols. Tr. Arlette and Alan Mellaarts, London.

Vol. I - catalogue listing of carpets from the Turk ve Islam Eserleri Muzesi and in Turkish mosques, with description and analyses, concordances, b&w illustr (some color); arranged by design type [dragon, transitional, floral, geometric, medallion, pictorial]; Vol. II - historical development of each design type; discussion of Persian and Anatolian influences in Caucasian carpets.

Compiled by Carol Bier