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Carpet

second half 19th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Prayer carpet made of wool and silk.

WARP: white wool; Z2S; 18 threads per inch (80 per dm).

WEFT: dark brown hair; Z2S; 2 shoots after each row of knots; 10 knots per inch (40 per dm).

PILE: wool and silk. 12 colours: dark red, red, light red, green (silk), dark blue, blue, purple (silk), pink (silk), brown, very light brown (wool and silk), black, white; asymmetrical knot, open to the left and tied around 2 threads; 90 knots per sq. inch (1600 per dm).

SIDE FINISH: web of 4 cords worked with brown hair.

END FINISH: Lower: maximum 14 cms and minimum 4 cms plain weave in bands;
(a) the lower part is with white wool weft, the upper with dark brown wool;
(b) two rows of weft twining in red and blue then a band of small white stepped diamonds with red centres in a weft-floating technique on a dark brown ground;
(c) a broad band of tapestry-woven chevrons in brown, blues and reds with most of the junctions are single dovetailing;
(d) is the same as (b) but with blue centres to the stepped diamonds. The fringe is a maximum of 10 cms long and is formed from warp loops with one thick shoot of weft at the lower end of the loops.
Upper: maximum of 12.5 cms. deep. As the lower end but the central band is narrower and the stepped diamonds have red centres. The fringe is made from groups of 7 warp threads secured by a single knot.

DESIGN: Field with a very light brown ground, in wool for the lowest 15 cms and the rest in silk. There is a thick floral sprig rising into a six-sided niche, with four pairs of stems each bearing a stylised carnation in dark blue, dark red, red and light red; there are four rows of stylised floral sprigs with two blue hooked crosses on the lower two corners; the ground is scattered with S-motifs and is edged by a line of inward-facing blue hooks. The two spandrels have a dark red ground filled with simple floral sprigs.

Borders (from the inside):
(1) very light brown ground with central black line across which are paired triangles outlined in black and filled in dark red, red, blue and brown.
(2) interlocking halves of stepped lozenges in the reds, blues and brown, all with contrasting centres.
(3) very light brown ground with a thick central line of alternating red and blue knots and supporting pairs of diagonal lines.
(4) light red ground with motif of 3 linked diamonds with a half diamond to either side of the middle one which has a blue crescent at each diagonal along the border and in the first motif on the sides; the remaining crescents include pairs in red and dark red. These motifs are separated by brown triangles, their points meeting in the centre and with angular indentations along the border edges.
On either side of the niche and between borders (3) and (4) there is a long rectangular panel with a very light brown ground on which a thick stem with closely packed pairs of leaves is predominantly dark red and black.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Woven wool and silk
Brief description
Prayer carpet made of wool and silk, Central Asia, second half of 19th century
Physical description
Prayer carpet made of wool and silk.

WARP: white wool; Z2S; 18 threads per inch (80 per dm).

WEFT: dark brown hair; Z2S; 2 shoots after each row of knots; 10 knots per inch (40 per dm).

PILE: wool and silk. 12 colours: dark red, red, light red, green (silk), dark blue, blue, purple (silk), pink (silk), brown, very light brown (wool and silk), black, white; asymmetrical knot, open to the left and tied around 2 threads; 90 knots per sq. inch (1600 per dm).

SIDE FINISH: web of 4 cords worked with brown hair.

END FINISH: Lower: maximum 14 cms and minimum 4 cms plain weave in bands;
(a) the lower part is with white wool weft, the upper with dark brown wool;
(b) two rows of weft twining in red and blue then a band of small white stepped diamonds with red centres in a weft-floating technique on a dark brown ground;
(c) a broad band of tapestry-woven chevrons in brown, blues and reds with most of the junctions are single dovetailing;
(d) is the same as (b) but with blue centres to the stepped diamonds. The fringe is a maximum of 10 cms long and is formed from warp loops with one thick shoot of weft at the lower end of the loops.
Upper: maximum of 12.5 cms. deep. As the lower end but the central band is narrower and the stepped diamonds have red centres. The fringe is made from groups of 7 warp threads secured by a single knot.

DESIGN: Field with a very light brown ground, in wool for the lowest 15 cms and the rest in silk. There is a thick floral sprig rising into a six-sided niche, with four pairs of stems each bearing a stylised carnation in dark blue, dark red, red and light red; there are four rows of stylised floral sprigs with two blue hooked crosses on the lower two corners; the ground is scattered with S-motifs and is edged by a line of inward-facing blue hooks. The two spandrels have a dark red ground filled with simple floral sprigs.

Borders (from the inside):
(1) very light brown ground with central black line across which are paired triangles outlined in black and filled in dark red, red, blue and brown.
(2) interlocking halves of stepped lozenges in the reds, blues and brown, all with contrasting centres.
(3) very light brown ground with a thick central line of alternating red and blue knots and supporting pairs of diagonal lines.
(4) light red ground with motif of 3 linked diamonds with a half diamond to either side of the middle one which has a blue crescent at each diagonal along the border and in the first motif on the sides; the remaining crescents include pairs in red and dark red. These motifs are separated by brown triangles, their points meeting in the centre and with angular indentations along the border edges.
On either side of the niche and between borders (3) and (4) there is a long rectangular panel with a very light brown ground on which a thick stem with closely packed pairs of leaves is predominantly dark red and black.
Dimensions
  • Weight: 14kg
  • Top edge width: 1080mm
  • Bottom edge width: 990mm
  • Proper left length: 1690mm
  • Proper right length: 1760mm
Weight including roller
Credit line
Bequeathed by Brigadier W. E. Clark
Production
Prayer rug, Beluch

Bequest from Brigadier W.E. Clarke

cf: Mackie/TM (1974), ill. 41 "Beluch, 19th century"
Parsons (1983, ill 93c, ".. Beluch prayer rug, probably from Badghis Province (Afghanistan).. this piece is dated 1261 AH (1882)". Also ill. 101 "Kawdani (Herat Province, Afghanistan). The selvedges are of goat hair".

Tzareva (1984) ill. 150 "Baluch floor rug, 19th century" and ill. 155, "Baluch tent bag, 19th century".

mentioned and illustrated "Mind the Gap - "Baluch Rugs in the V & A", by Robert Pittenger + analysis. Hali 1994, issue 73, p. 80,81.
Collection
Accession number
T.75-1969

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Record createdMarch 2, 2006
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