19th century bag face

WARP: white wool; Z2S; 18 threads per inch (69 per dm).

WEFT: light red wool; Z spun, unplied; 2 shoots after each row of knots; 17 knots per inch (62 per dm).

PILE: wool; 7 colours: dark red, light red, light yellow, dark green, dark blue, brown, white; an asymmetrical knot open to the right and tied around 2 warp threads; 153 knots per sq. inch (2139 per sq. dm).

SIDE FINISH: both sides have one cord oversewn with dark red wool.

END FINISH: Lower: missing but there are 5 cms. of plain weave, the first two-thirds with white weft and the remainder with red. Upper: incomplete but 1.5 cms. with red weft remains.

DESIGN: Field: a dark red ground with three bands of three guls which are quartered dark red/dark green alternating with dark red/dark blue and lie on a white ground with paired, elongated hooks. Each gul is outlined in dark blue. The secondary design lies in two bands and two halves each of two and two half motifs. The vertical bar is dark blue, occasionally dark green, and on it is a row of six florets. The longer, horizontal bar is the same colour with light red decoration. Both bars are hooked in white at both ends.

Borders: the main border has a dark red ground. The upper and lower borders both have mirrored triangles in dark blue and dark green containing light and dark red horned motifs and forming a lattice enclosing a small dark red diamond with a floret surrounded by four pairs of horns, one on each side, alternately in white and red. On the two side borders the triangles do not meet and become an outline for pairs of multi-coloured arrowheads.

Inner and outer: light red ground with angular linked S motifs in dark green with a dark red square at the point of linkage.

The innermost border has a dark red ground with white and yellow florets and blocks of predominantly light red.

The outermost border has a dark red ground with diagonal blocks in all colours except brown. There is a solid dark red border down both sides.

The elem: a dark red ground with three offset bands of geometric diamond-like motifs with serrated edges. There are two bands of nine and one of eight. The first and third bands have alternately white and light red motifs with a dark red centre in which is a yellow or white "hourglass" motif lying on a regularly stepped figure in dark blue or dark green. Dark green alternates with dark blue on the middle band of motifs which also have a dark red centre but a light red "hourglass". These latter lie on an alternating white and yellow stepped figure. All three bands have the dark red ground passing through them as three horizontal lines. Bands 1 and 3 have the main motifs separated by diamond-shaped clusters of flowerheads.