Jim Bowen was kind
enough to post a picture of this rug with a question of
what it is. Here is what I wrote initially:
Obviously we
start the attribution of your rug at Hamadan. It is
very much what I expect from the Hamadan area with
it's single wefts and village style. Then to go past
the broad category of Hamadan I have to go to
structure. The clues are:
Size 3'3" x 4'6".
Warps: Cotton
Weft: multiple wool singles
Ends: One end with loops and red and green
herringbone pattern.
So when we add it up Cotton warps are common in
Hamadan rugs but wool wefts with cotton are not. This
is something Hubel notes in "the Book of
Carpets" as typical of Maslaghan. Your field
pattern is very different from the lightning bolt and
medallion fields that we expect in Maslaghan rugs.
but field pattern is not an important. What is a much
better clue are the borders which are in the style of
Maslaghan, the end finishes which are in the style of
Maslaghan and the wool wefts. The size is right for a
Maslaghan since we expect to see them in a sejadeh
size like this one or in a Kenerah format. So unless
someone can point out something I am overlooking I
think your rug is a Maslaghan.
By the way it is unlikely that the
end finish band is embroidered since that would be
done with a needle after the rug was off the loom. I
am virtually certain that your band was done on the
loom and is probably a complimentary weft weave in a
twill pattern. I just can not make it out for sure
from your picture. The best book is Marla Mallet's
Woven Structures and if you could direct scan a
close-up that would be a good addition to Marla's end
finishes project. Almost all end finishes are done on
the loom but one exception is a Tulip Afshar that I
had a chance to examine. The rug was similar to the
one in your collection that had embroidery on one of
the end finishes. However embroidery is the rare
exception.
Maslaghan is a village due east of Hamadan in the Karaghan area
near Kerdar and Nobearan. For many years those rugs
were attributed Mosul and were thought to be Kurdish.
They could be Kurdish but I am not absolutely sure.
Hamadan area rug.
West central Persia
- 3'3" x 4'6" (154 cm x 213 cm)
- PRIMARY STRUCTURE: Symmetrical knots; H:
9, V: 10, 90 per square inch (H: 35/dm,
V: 39/dm, 1365 knots per square dm). No
warp depression.
- YARN SPIN: Z.
- WARP: Cotton.
- WEFT: One weft shot between rows of
knots; brown wool is plied with white
cotton and used along with a thin brown
wool single.
- PILE: 2 wool singles. White and 3 shades
of blue are mixed in some areas -- in the
birds and in the main border.
- OVERCAST SELVAGES: Two warp units of
4-ply wool, overcast with black wool or
goathair.
- LOWER END FINISH: Red and blue wool
heading cord of countered twining; band
of complementary-weft weave in a pointed
twill pattern, edged with single rows of
soumak.
- UPPER END FINISH: Complementary-weft
weave band in a pointed twill pattern,
edged with soumak.
Structural Information courtesy of Marla
Mallet's Twill
Patterned Borders - End Finishes Project
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Here is one more interesting tidbit on
the bird rug. The attached jpeg detail comes from a
frayed corner of the rug. Clearly exposed is one
shot of weft, consisting of a 2 ply yarn of dark brown
wool and white cotton. Lying along side are two
singles of lighter brown wool. The four strands
together are used for one shot of weft in the single
wefted structure. For the most part the weft is not
sufficiently exposed to be certain that this combination
is used throughout the rug. But looking at the back
under a magnifying glass I can see both the darker and
lighter brown peeking out of the structure in numerous
places, along with the much more easily seen white. - Jim
Bowen
LOWER END FINISH: Red and blue wool
heading cord of countered twining; band of
complementary-weft weave in a pointed twill pattern,
edged with single rows of soumak.
In Marla Mallet's Twill
Patterned Borders - End Finishes Project Marla notes
that someone suggested that this rug is a Bahktiarri. She
does not say who or how they came to that fascinating
conclusion.
For Further Reading:
Thanks and best wishes,
J. Barry O'Connell Jr.
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