Rugs: index page
Why rugs?
There must be an index page for rugs, because I cannot deny that rugs interest me — and what came after this was a rather negative introduction to the rug obsession, which I have moved to a separate page (Rugs: old negative introduction)
I had lost interest in rugs for a number of years, having eventually sold the small pile in my room which I had to turn over frequently in fear of moths. So I was left with just a few rugs that fitted on the floor.
I remember talking to Ian Bennett on the train from Salisbury back towards Bath about rugs, his obsession, his Baluch collection while in charge of pottery at Sothebys, his Persian wife, their large flat, his loss of everything. I remember stories of splendid Chinese rugs that were ruined by the parties of Hollywood stars like Myrna Loy, and later bought back in tatters by the same dealer that once sold them in a perfect state. Of thrilling finds and acquisitions (Michael Franses cutting out a very old dragon rug fragment from what had been woven much later around it, straight at the floor of the rural auction house). Of the famous Sanguszko carpets. There was an entire world without bottom to discover. And for some weird reason I later even followed Ian in getting interested in watches instead of rugs. And I have no idea why all this is so important to me. By the time I wanted to return with a microphone, Ian had already died.
Recently, my interest in rugs has returned. Again I feel the thrill of searching for rugs that interest me (and the thrill of buying some.) I also still sometimes feel the numbness and dissatisfaction that I have described at length in the negative introduction.
I now think of picking up the habit of photographing and analysing the pieces I get (or that run though my hands) as I did years ago.
Legend
- = in my posession
- (gone) = no longer in my posession
- (on loan) = currently away on loan
Baluch and Baluch-type
- (gone) Baluch chanteh with tassels, now cushion
19 June 2011
- (gone) Large Khorassan Baluch bag face (Timuri?)
31 May 2011
- (gone) Timuri Baluch with diverse all-over design
17 April 2011
- (gone) Baluch with Aina Kochak lattice
16 April 2011
- (gone) Baluch balisht face with botehs, before 1900
15 May 2007
- (gone) Khorassan Baluch balisht face (?), ca. 1900
08 May 2007
- (gone) Baluch type, Jamshidi? Turkmen guls, ca. 1850
30 April 2007
- (gone) Baluch or Baluch type (Torbat-i Jam area)
17 April 2007
- (gone) Baluch bag (balisht) face with silk diamond
05 April 2007
- (gone) Sistan? Baluch rug with Tekke guls, ca. 1900
05 April 2007
- (gone) Exceptionally rare Baluch rug, mina khani design
21 November 2006
- (gone) Early Khorassan Baluch prayer, tree of life
25 March 2006
- (gone) Small Baluch rug, meandering tree border
23 March 2006
- (gone) Baluch "tree of life" rug, Khorassan
23 March 2006
- (gone) Small antique Khorassan Baluch rug
23 March 2006
South-West and South Persian
- (gone) Khamseh rug with pomegranate design
19 September 2011
- (gone) Small Afshar bag face with botehs
6 September 2011
- (gone) Small Qashqa'i bag in weft-substitution weave
6 September 2011
- (gone) Qashqa'i bag face with boxes and rosettes
30 August 2011
- (gone) Bakhtiari, Rozveh village, medallion design
22 April 2010
- (gone) All-wool Afshar, flower repeat
07 February 2010
- (gone) Qashqa'i Sherkarlu rug w white-ground border
07 February 2010
- (gone) South-Persian Gabbeh, stepped diamond medallions
13 January 2008
- (gone) Bakhtiari, palmette design, 19th c.
23 November 2007
- (gone) Qashqa'i Shekarlu subtribe - Luri? Khamseh?
03 July 2007
- (gone) Luri half khorjin complete with back
10 April 2007
- (gone) Rare tribal Qashqa'i warp-faced bag (khorjin)
16 March 2007
- (gone) Luri / Lori Khorjin face, end of 19th c.
07 February 2007
- (gone) Khamseh Khorjin face fragment, endless knot
06 February 2007
- (gone) Tribal Khamseh Khorjin face with herd of goats
05 February 2007
- (gone) Khamseh? Khorjin face, bold unusual design
05 February 2007
- (gone) Khamseh Baharlu runner, last quarter 19th c.
06 June 2006
- (gone) Dated Afshar rug with camel, Kerman area
05 April 2006
- (gone) Southern Persian Gabbeh with medallion
17 March 2005
- (gone) Late 19th tribal Afshar or Kurdish bag face
5 January 2006
Kurdish & North-West Persian
- (gone) Kurdish medallion rug with animals, diamonds
28 December 2013
- (gone) Kurdish rug with humans, animals, blossoms
17 June 2011
- (gone) Kurdish rug with wide boteh border
29 April 2011
- (gone) Bijar / Kurdish rug, palmettes & sickle leaves
17 April 2010
- Unusual Bijar wagireh (sampler), cotton foundation
17 January 2010
- (gone) 'Duck' Kolyai / Qulya'i rug with animals & humans
10 January 2010
- (on loan) Bijar poshti with wide border and striped field
25 November 2009
- (gone) Khorassan Kurd / Quchan rug, all-over repeat
11 November 2009
- Village Bijar w diamond pattern, humans, and herd
12 February 2009
- Small NW Persian or Caucasian (Shahsavan) rug
11 February 2009
- (gone) Kurd Bijar rug, Baluch-type tree design
21 September 2008
- (gone) Kolyai Kurdish rug, anchor design & turtle border
15 September 2008
- (gone) Dated Kolyai rug w Takht-e-Jamshid design
15 September 2008
- (gone) Kurdish village carpet with hexagonal grid
12 April 2008
- (gone) Early wide Jaf Kurd half khorjin (saddle bag) face
29 April 2007
- (gone) NW Persian Kurdish or Afshar rug
05 April 2007
- (gone) Shahsavan-mafrash end panel, slit tapestry
05 April 2007
- (gone) Shahsavan mafrash side-panels, slit tapestry
17 March 2007
- (gone) Jaf khorjin (saddle bag) face, depressed, 19th c.
16 March 2007
- (gone) Tribal NW Persian or Caucasian khorjin
23 February 2007
- (gone) Kurdish rug, Jaf? Quchan? 19th c.
10 February 2007
- (gone) Kurdish village rug, flowers in hexagonal grid
06 January 2007
- (gone) Kurdish Sofreh, NW Persia, animals, camel wool?
18 November 2006
- (gone) Very old Kurdish medallion rug
04 June 2006
- (gone) Kurdish rug, end of 19th c., shrubs on yellow ground
07 May 2006
- (gone) Kurdish long rug, shrubs, hooked medallion
22 November 2005
Hamadan area
- Small Hamadan, lattice w rosettes, palmettes, lilies
09 December 2009
- (gone) Kurdish Hamadan, white ground border w. animals
11 September 2008
- (gone) Bold Kurdish Hamadan, vases on camel ground
22 May 2008
- (gone) Hamadan wild herati rug (nomadic production)?
24 April 2008
- (gone) Tafresh rug, Hamadan area, ca. 1930
03 February 2008
- (gone) Hamadan rug, probably Qombâd village
13 November 2007
- Hamadan, plain brown field, Zarand or Borodjert
11 November 2007
- (gone) Shirishâbâd flower lattice long rug, Hamadan area
08 November 2007
- (gone) Hamadan Khamseh rug ca. 1900
06 September 2007
- (gone) Hamadan rug, Gharaghan district, ca. 1910–1925
30 June 2007
- (gone) Hamadan Khamseh rug, Kalajuk village
20 June 2007
- (gone) Mazlaghan rug fragment (outer border missing)
19 June 2007
- (gone) Kurdish Hamadan rug, sickle leaf design
12 January 2007
- (gone) Kurdish (?) Palmette rug, Hamadan / Qombâd
02 April 2006
Other Persian city and village rugs & carpets
Anatolian
Caucasian
Central Asian / Turkmen
Rug related texts
Postscript
An obvious, if somewhat corny, title for a book on the madness of rug collecting would be "Confessions of a rug addict". The book would be written like a retrospective of a ruined life (in what way ruined is not so clear). Somehow the leading character would end up lonely, rejected by family and friends after squandering a large inheritance, living in squalid conditions. Most or all of the rugs would be gone - stolen, ruined by moths or a freak event or lost rather than sold. Perhaps the character would have retained one small tattered kurdish prayer rug on which he would also try to sleep.
Hand of the ebay vendor (possibly Roddy) touching the back of a 19th century Afshar rug (or rather, offering his hand as a scale) at YAZDANPOUR PERSIAN CARPETS. (Picture quotation from ebay / YAZDANPOUR PERSIAN CARPETS, ebay item number 7346436724, 28 Aug 2005)
My kids holding up an Anatolian Kurdish prayer rug to be photographed. It has quite obviously been used for a long time, so where the knees and feet go during prayer, there are bare spots (especially on the right side. I have no idea what might account for the asymmetrical wear). The intense colours and the soft wool are hard to describe. I especially like the way the square hooks adorning the white border that frames the mirhab are treated in the corners.