Primitive shaggy rug behemoth

Primal Nomad Rug Behemoth

Sub zero temperatures outside, inside a roaring fire hisses and spits like some primeval serpentine beast. Laid out on the floor is a pure woolen fantasy - the weavers dream, one of the most fanciful and extreme examples of a nomad weaving in existence.

About eleven decades ago somewhere in a stony West Afghan desert or on some windswept plateau, nomads with their donkeys and camels carried the mother lode of aniline dyes back to their camp. The bright orange and purple dyes required to colour the wool of this behemoth of a rug. We'll never know how many sheep gave up their coats that summer as contribution to this shaggy knotted primal weaving. Gnarly and impossible - how the weavers managed to complete the two halves of this rug and tie the knots to the warps is a mystery. In it's final rendering the natural shades of brown and black wool were combined with bright aniline dyed wool- some dyes now faded giving the rug an earthy warm patina.

About a century old and remarkably well preserved, the kilim ends are intact and all the pile is there. The women who wove this rug must have had some special purpose in mind, this rug is one of a kind. For the sheep that gave up their coats - two people are required to lift this woolly nomad bedding rug. If there ever was a nomad sleeping rug that was made for the express purpose this is the one. I have nine others and have seen many more, none come close to this example for sheer weight and density of wool in one rug. Larger than most 10'9" x 6'2".

Curled up by the fire on this rug is the only place to be when the mercury drops below zero.

Hazara Afghanistan

 

Recent posts about Taimani and Baluch "sleeping" rugs have discussed the possible attributions of this unique and rare group of two piece rugs from Central to West Afghanistan and Eastern Persia. Taimani Aimaq, Baluch Long Bedding Rug, Baluch Two Piece Rug. Karl-Heinz Breuss contacted me and added the following and insightful comments.

"Hazaras: There are 2 different groups, the Shiite Hazaras of Central-Afghanistan, these people do not make piled carpets and have Mongolian faces, but these people make nice kilims, felts and good textiles. Your and my 2 pieces (see attached image) are more from the Sunite group of Hazaras, these people are in West Afghanistan, but also in East-Persia and even in South East Persia and produce carpets in the Baluch-Style, we count these Sunnite Hazaras to the Aimaq-Group. These Hazaras, the Firlouskohi and part of the Timuris have used Yurts and not the black goat-hair tents of the Baluchis. So I believe, that your # 1+2 (see attached image) are not real Baluchis, more Hazaras from Farah and Persia." Karl-Heinz Breuss

Primitive Rug Research

Seeking and answering questions about rug attributions is fraught with potential hazards even before the journey begins. Opinions can cloud research based on definitive evidence from  sources including photographs and ethnographic research.

When I first began researching primitive rugs Leigh Copeland offered the following. “To make a complete catalogue of the misinformation which the rug fraternity hand on from one to another would need ‘a painful man with his pen, and as much patience as he who wrote the Lives and Deaths of the Martyrs.’” H. G. Dwight. Persian Miniatures. 1912.

Recently James Allen posted a quote on facebook from Max Planck "A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents 
and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents 
eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it."

Recent discussions on the facebook pages of Primitive Rug have highlighted the diverse opinions end experiences of readers and contributors to the discussion. With this in mind the aims, goals and objectives of Primitive Rug become obvious. A place to discuss and share the most recent thoughts and research on the topic of Primitive Rugs. The joy is in the journey. The answers will never be absolute.

As a segue to the next post here's an image of a VERY unique rug from James Blackmon. This rug is early (probably late 19th Century) compared to known examples, and smaller, woven in one piece other rugs of this type are two pieces stitched together.

Taimani or Baluch Long Bedding Rug

 

Taimani or Baluch Long Bedding Rug - This One's Huge!

The design elements used in this very long Taimani or Baluch bedding rug are almost identical to the Baluch bedding rug presented in the previous post. With exception of the acanthus leaf border.

Measuring 14 feet 4 inches x 6 feet 2 inches, this rug with two long panels stitched together - must have been made for a special purpose and is unusual.  This is exactly twice as long as any Taimani two - piece bedding rug. Perhaps it was specially woven for a mud walled village or town situation. If these were meant to be sleeping rugs, why make one so large. This example suggests a rug meant for seating on the floor or the ground inside a massive tent. The Taimani were known to stay in Villages and Towns during the winter. ¹ "Perhaps meant for the "mehman-khane", the room where guests were welcomed with nomad rugs. ²

In The Carpets Of Afghanistan, Parsons shows a two - piece rug which he describes as "Farah" from Farah Province. Parsons notes that the rug has a rough feel due to "the use of over spun yarn, a characteristic of the Farah production". ³ Eiland also states in Oriental Carpets, A Complete Guide that “Apparently these same nomadic Baluchis also produce the curious two-piece Baluchi rugs, woven in narrow strips and sewn together along the vertical axis. Some of these resemble Mushwani work, but it is likely they are woven by a number of nomadic groups, whose looms are too small to accommodate a large rug”. ⁴ Production would have extended South and West of Ghowr Province towards the Iranian border into Farah Province.

When I enquired with Arlette Bollag of NOMADENSCHÄTZE she made the following observations: "We know Taimani rugs from our first travels to Afghanistan in the late seventies, early eighties. At the time, there was a boom and a flourishing new production of little Taimani prayer rugs, none of them at that time older then maybe 20 years. The market was aflood with them, in the last 10 years we have hardly seen any. They had the same colour scheme your rug has, natural indigo, faded chemical dyes. (The little Baluch in the previous post) At the time, they were considered poor copies of Baluch prayer rugs and consequently sold very cheaply. Their charming naivete was appreciated by the public, but not by specialists, who insisted on the fact, that this was a rug without any tradition. In 1981 though, in Quetta, Pakistan, we found a Taimani rug that was more than a hundred years old, wonderful colours, wonderful wool. It was a little prayer rug, that unfortunately we sold in our last Baluch and neighbouring tribes exhibition. We have never seen a second example since 1981. It proves though, that there was a rug weaving tradition, maybe only existing in a small sub-tribe, that has old roots. Flatweaves attributed to the Taimani are very refined and elaborately designed. As far as we know, there is no specific literature on the subject. Old books still throw the two tribes together and call everything Baluch, and there are no known publications yet that concentrate on the subject. Maybe you will be the author of a comprehensive outlook??"

One more reason why I embarked on this project - I took Arlette's advice on board.

In conclusion there is evidence that these rugs were produced  from Ghowr Province into Farah Province and possibly across the border into Persia. Woven by more than one group there are variations in design, although the weave is similar. In Afghanistan a tradition exists of weaving rugs in two separate strips, both long pile, short pile and kilims - then stitching the two pieces together.

Long Taimaini or Baluch rug collection The Author.

1 Winch. P Guide To Oriental Rugs Kangaroo Press 1991. 25

2 Wegner. Dr, D. H .G Pile Rugs of The Baluch and Their Neighbors, Part 2 Translated from German by Lola Froehlich, August, 1981. Reviewed by Dr. Wegner, May, 1985 Oriental Rug Review, Vol. 5, No. 4, July 1985

3 Parsons, R.D: Oriental Rugs Volume 3: The Carpets of Afghanistan Suffolk 1990 (1994)

4 Eiland, Murray L. Jr andMurray Eiland 111: Orientals Carpets, A Complete Guide Boston 1998. 138