Enjoy The Magic Carpet Ride
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday September 6, 1993
COLLECTORS of central Asian rugs know how complex and potentially confusing the names and attributes of rug weavings can be.
Some rugs are named after areas or the tribes which produced them. Others are named for their function, one of the most obvious being the Islamic prayer rug which can identified by the "niche" pattern woven at the top of the field. (The niche represents the arch of the mosque and when the rug is used in prayer, the niche is pointed towards Mecca.)
Rugs can also be known by design elements, such as medallions. Others, such as the Soumak or Sileh, are defined by the weaving technique. In this case, the rugs do not have a knotted pile but are flatwoven with the wool threaded around the horizontal strands of the weft.
Two current Sydney exhibitions, one at Nomadic Rug Traders and the other at Caspian Gallery, give collectors and the curious the chance to discuss the fine details with knowledgeable dealers.
The Caspian Gallery is showing a thematic collection of Aimaq tribal rugs(sometimes called Baluchi) from the region of Western Afghanistan and Eastern Iran.
And, while the majority of the carpets gracing the walls of the Nomadic Rug Trader's gallery are also tribal, they have been curated around the more general theme of decorative motifs.
A frequent question is whether the age of rug is significant when estimating its value. "It is important in the sense that you get them in chronological order," says Ross Langlands, of Nomadic Rug Traders. "Dating is likely to indicate the conditions under which the rugs were made."
This is significant because some areas were highly commercialised in the mid-19th century. Carpets were made specifically for export in factory conditions, using synthetic dyes instead of the traditional natural plant dyes.
Social circumstances are also important, according to Langlands. "Rugs that were made for everyday domestic use by the tribal people are more important than those made for commercial purposes, for the tourist trade or the modern export market," he says.
The carpets in these exhibitions don't have the high degree of sophisticated drawing or design associated with the finely resolved courtly carpets woven from pre-drawn cartoons. Tribal designs have an improvisational quality - and that is part of their charm.
Condition also effects the value of a rug. But even that is relative. Ross Langlands again points to the Sileh Dragon Rug which he thinks was woven in the early 19th century. "If it had been woven in the early 1900s and not the early 1800s, it would be considered to be in poor condition," says Langlands.
Bill Evans, of the Caspian Gallery, also has a carpet which is, in some respects, in less than mint condition. But it's only after he points it out that the join in the carpet becomes noticeable. He bought the rug at a market in south-eastern Iran. The rug, from Siestan, was in two pieces.
"Obviously the rug is not worth as much if it is restored, but I don't think it has lost very much and it still presents as a wonderful rug," says Evans, who had it repaired by "the best cut-and-shut artist" in Sydney.
What made it worth his while, he explains, is that Siestan is below the traditional weaving areas of southern Afghanistan and the rugs from there were not made for commercial purposes.
Evans and Langlands are unanimous when it comes to determining what makes a good rug: colour and design.
"If the weavers spend time getting colour right then they are likely to have the other things, the visual aesthetics, right as well," says Langlands.
Evans agrees, adding that the factor often overlooked, is the quality of the wool and goat hair that are used in the weaving.
Collectors should realise that to compare rugs on the basis of how fine they are or their depth of the pile is only valid in relation to other rugs in the same group. Also, "handiwork is cheap in Asia so people shouldn't be mislead by being told how much work is involved," says Evans.
Both dealers recommend Jon Thompson's Carpets, originally published as Carpet Magic, as good reading for rug collectors. It is available from Gaanetgetal Books, 2 Gibbons Street, Camperdown.
Nomadic Rug Traders, 125 Harris Street, Pyrmont; Caspian Gallery, 469 Oxford Street, Paddington. Exhibitions run until mid-September.
© 1993 Sydney Morning Herald
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