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War Rug (Winter Scene?)
Size: 4 foot by 6 foot 5 inch.
This is a very collectable
older Baluch War Rug
from a German Collection and should be of real
interest to serious war rug collectors.
This rug was hard to
photograph. It is very attractive and appears to
be a winter scene. I can not think of another
Afghan winter scene. Snow can be a major concern
in parts of Afghanistan. The part of the
Baburnama where Babur describes coming down
through the Hindu Kush in the snow is a
fascinating part of the book.
A number of years ago I wrote
an article for Oriental
Rug Review called Afghan
War Rugs: If it Walks Like a Duck.... In it I
broke a lot of new ground trying to attribute the
various types of war rugs to where they were
made. When I was writing that article there was a
real question in my mind whether the Baluch
weavers ever actually wove war rugs in any great
numbers. Now a few years later I have come to the
conclusion that during the war of Russian
Aggression most of the "Baluchi" war
rugs were not Baluch but that approximately 10 to
20% of them actually were
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Baluch War Rug , Northwest Afghanistan.
Inventory #: 442 Size: 4 foot by 6 foot 5
inch.
Structure: Asymmetrical knot open to the
right. 9 knots per horizontal inch and 9 knots
per vertical inch. 81 per square inch (1255.5 per
square decimeter)
Yarn Spin: Z.
Warp: 2 ply old ivory wool.
Weft: 2 shot black cotton.
Pile: 2 wool singles.
Ends: 1 inch plain weave and overhand knots
with 1 inch warp fringe.
Selvages: 2 cord interlaced red wool.
Handle: Soft, medium, durable.
Further Notes: Excellent condition
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Direct Scan
Afghanistan was a quiet and
simple place and then there were massive caravans
of Soviet Troop and supply convoys. It was a
major thing for people used to only seeing an
occasional bus and suddenly they saw more
vehicles than they used to see in a week or more
in one caravan. The impact that the sight of
these convoys was over-whelming to the weavers.
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For information on War Rugs please see:
Afghan War Rug Question -
RugNotes
Afghan
War Rugs: If it Walks Like a Duck... by J. Barry
O'Connell, Jr. (Oriental Rug Review, March, 1997)
Afghan
War Rugs: A Sub-group With Iranian Influence An
Exhibition of a Variant Type by Ron O'Callaghan, with
thanks to J. Barry O'Connell, Jr. Oriental Rug Review
For a discussion of Afghan Baluch and Baluch type see:
Parsons,
R. D. Oriental Rugs Volume 3 The Carpets of Afghanistan.
Woodbridge: Antique Collectors Club, 1983, 3rd ed. 1994.
Thanks and best wishes,
J. Barry O'Connell Jr.
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