CHICHI RUG

small, handmade floor covering ascribed to the Chechens, a group living in the republic of Checheno-Ingushetiya, Russia. The definitive pattern has many transverse rows of small motifs, such as a latch-hooked, stepped polygon or a figure resembling an outstretched animal hide, upon a field edged with a dainty reciprocal pattern; the principal stripe of the multiple border contains rosettes between broad diagonal bars. The coloration usually has a peculiar greenish cast. The weft is of cotton, and the warp yarns may include cotton strands. As in nearly every other Caucasian rug, the pile, which here is short, is of wool, as is most of the warp.