Abrash tells the dominant tale on this good condition restricted light palette eastern Turkish [if it's a Sivas] scatter. The generally subdued palette works straw, sand, golden brown and other brown shades into a subtle medallion pattern with extended arabesque filled corners, in a classic "bookcover" layout. The abrash does not follow any pattern or formal order. But it stretches across the bottom border, just inside of the lower border, again from edge to edge near the upper field end, and halfway up within the upper border. These broader bands have sub-abrashes within them,. There are additional bits of abrash at the centre and you can find still more subtle ones when you look closely. Some abrashes are more subtle than others, but none are out of tone and too starkly visible. The abrash indicates changes in the dye lots. These variations may not be visible when the rug was first woven, but subsequent manipulations have brought them out. How many dye lot changes were there? The abrashes add character to a mellow, tone-on-tone rug, and indicate its handmade character. There is also some vertical abrashes, especially along the right hand side border. Sivas rugs are urban creations of a substantial town in eastern Turkey and share many characteristics with Persian Tabriz work. The most active Sivas period is from about 1920 until 1940. The industry was developed by Armenians and when they left, Sivas carpet weaving declined to a lower level, both in quantity and quality. This versatile example is in good condition, with a medium-close weave of symmetric (Turkish) knots on an all-cotton foundation. "Decorative" in the current sense, Works anywhere. Colour manipulation may be recent or old, Turkish or American.
