A CYBER RUG EXHIBITION

Welcome to a cyber exhibit of antique oriental rugs, bags and trappings. This exhibit was
created in concurrence ( unofficially ) with the 1996 ICOC in Philadelphia. I have added new
pieces and modified some original ones. The rugs, bags, and trappings here are part of my
permanent collection and are not for sale. The images are JPEGs with a range of 50-250KB.
Click on the menu item to view the image. In General these images are not quite as good as
later efforts on the Tribal Rugs site. .

ORIGINAL EXHIBIT

A Marasali Shirvan from the mid 19th c. This rug is unusual in that it contains small
amounts of very fine camel hair pile in several botehs. Here is a close-up of the lower center area,
and here is a direct scan close-up of a "boteh". Rug size: 3' 6" x 4' 2".

A Shirvan with a Blossom or "Snowflake" design. This rug is dated "1297" (AD 1880)
and contains a small amount of early aniline red (which has faded to brown). The infinity aspect of
the design is particularly striking. Rug size: 3' 3" x 4' 3".

This Bordjalou Kazak was last seen in a 1971 exhibition. It is in near mint condition.
The field design reminds one of Turkoman Güls. Rug size: 3' 10" x 4" 11".

An unassuming small Karachof Kazak is one of my favorites. Rug size: 2' 10" x 4' 10".

This Kuba area rug is dated "1274" (AD 1858). Both this Kuba and the Marasali have
small areas of "sulfonic blue", indigo that was treated with sulfuric acid and has now faded to a pale
green-blue. This is not a synthetic dye. See the close-up to get a feel for its incredible depth of color.
This rug also is in near mint condition. Rug size: 4' x 9' 4".

Moving on to Central Asia... This Yomout Turkoman "Asmalyk". dates to the mid 19th
Century. A pair were used to decorate the flanks of a camel during a bride's ride to her new home.
This example uses extensive "offset knotting" ( successive rows of knots are offset by one warp
thread instead of two, an extremely difficult procedure ) and small amounts of brilliant insect dye.
These two close-ups of the "Ashik'" güls were made by direct scans: close-up1; close-up 2.
Newly added are a Super Close-up and the Back of the Same Area showing the individual knots.
Each gül is approximately six inches in width. The Asmalyk measures 2' 5" x 4' 5".

This Yomout Tent Band is 43 feet long by 15 inches wide. These beautiful weavings
were made to decorate the new home after the wedding ceremony. I have always been
intrigued by the weaving technique used to make these ( the knots are tied around alternate
warps ).  close-up1 ; close-up 2 .

One of the more intriguing tribal weavings I have come across is this Yomout Mafrash in
a Chodor design. The unusual feature is not the design crossover, but the fact that the bag face was
woven with a combination of Persian ( asymmetric ) and Turkish ( symmetric ) knotting. Size 1' x 3'.