Armenian Backgammon Set - Mugan Carpet of Karabakh

Armenian Backgammon Set - Mugan Carpet of Karabakh, by Hrachya Ohanyan

A Karabakh carpet, cut into a lid. The cover of this 23.6″ / 60 cm board is worked edge to edge as a Mugan carpet — rows of hooked octagons, three by four, each holding a stepped cross and a small star, with hooked squares between them and a border of running S-hooks — pale motifs on a dark ground textured so finely it reads as pile from across the room. In the corner, where a weaver might tie a mark, the workshop lettered Մուղան կարպետ Ղարաբաղ — Mugan carpet, Karabakh — in both alphabets. Master Hrachya Ohanyan keeps the outline classic and square and stains the beech a warm chestnut brown under clear varnish. A handmade Armenian backgammon set from a single piece of wood at the full living-room size.

Undo the cast-bronze clasps and the 23.6″ / 60 cm wooden backgammon board keeps the weave going: a stepped star-cross ornament at the heart of each half, points built from chains of small diamonds, the field finely textured, a scalloped frame and an ornate hinge on the centre bar. Thirty-two checkers in light and dark wood, a dice set and the branded carrying case come with it. This is the handmade backgammon board for the family with roots in Karabakh, the collector who reads guls the way others read maps, and the flat that already has a Kazak on the wall and wants the other side of the story.

Specifications

• Size open: 60 × 60 cm / 23.6″ × 23.6″
• Size folded: 60 × 30 cm / 23.6″ × 11.8″
• Material: beech wood, made from one piece, stained chestnut brown and varnished
• Motif: a Mugan carpet of Karabakh — rows of hooked octagons (the Memling gul) each holding a stepped cross and a star, hooked squares between them, S-hook borders — worked into the whole cover in fine two-tone texture, with Մուղան կարպետ Ղարաբաղ / Mugan carpet Karabakh lettered in the corner; stepped star-cross ornaments, diamond-chain points and a textured field inside
• Outline: classic, square
• Hardware: cast-bronze hinges and clasps
• Handmade in Armenia by Hrachya Ohanyan

What's Included

• Backgammon board with bronze hinges and clasps
• 32 checkers made from beech and walnut wood, with velvet bases
• Dice set
• Branded carrying case

Why You'll Love It

• Twelve guls, one rug: rows of hooked octagons worked into the beech in two tones with a pile-like texture in the Hrachya Ohanyan workshop — the oldest carpet motif in the Caucasus, on a board.
• Named on the board: the carpet's name and origin are lettered into the corner in Armenian and English — this is a Mugan carpet of Karabakh, and it says so.
• Ready for the table: full-size 23.6″ / 60 cm board, checkers in light and dark wood, dice and a carrying case — open it and play.

Good to Know Before You Buy

How big is it? Open, the board is 23.6″ / 60 cm square — the standard full size for a living-room table. Closed, it is 23.6″ × 11.8″ / 60 × 30 cm and stands on its own edge.

Is the pattern printed? No. The carpet is worked into the beech in two tones — the pale motifs left light, the ground cut and textured dark — and sealed under the varnish, so it will not peel or fade. The ornaments, points and field inside are cut the same way, and the frame is carved. The chestnut colour is a stain in the wood under the varnish.

What about shipping and returns? Shipping is free to the US, Canada and Europe, always tracked; other countries pay a flat $100 (Brazil, Chile and New Zealand $200). Every set is covered by our 30-day returns.

Can I add a name or a date? Yes — choose the engraving option on this page and tell us the text. A name or a date turns it into a personalized backgammon set, and it is the detail people remember years later.

How do I look after it? Keep it out of direct sun and away from radiators, wipe with a dry soft cloth, and store it closed in the case.

The Memling Gul

The hooked octagon on this board is the oldest motif in Caucasian weaving — so old that Western scholars named it after Hans Memling, the Flemish painter who put rugs full of them under the feet of his Madonnas in the fifteenth century. In Karabakh the weavers of the Mugan group laid the guls in rows across a dark ground and framed them with running hooks, and the carpets went to the bazaar in Shushi and from there to the world. The Hrachya Ohanyan workshop cut one into wood at 60 cm and wrote its name in the corner, the way a museum label would — a Karabakh carpet you play on.

About the Artist - Hrachya Ohanyan

In 1985, National Master Hrachya Ohanyan began his fine wood craft, introducing a new approach to the age-old traditions of woodworking. After many years of dedication, the Hrachya Ohanyan workshop was established in 2010. Every board passes through 14 stages of production, with 14 separate craftsmen leaving their mark before it reaches its finished form — a piece of wood artistry admired both in Armenia and around the world. Read the story of master Hrachya Ohanyan or explore the full Hrachya Ohanyan backgammon collection.

A Gift That Lasts Generations

For a wedding, a collector of Caucasian rugs, a family with roots in Karabakh or the friend who can name a gul at ten paces, an Armenian backgammon set worked as a Mugan carpet is the backgammon gift set that belongs on the same wall as the real thing. We send it at Christmas, on 21 September and to Armenians far from home. It gets opened, played and passed on.