A Boteh a Day Keeps the Covid Away

[Patrick Weiler]

We have exhaustively exhibited our Bumper Bottom Bags and Threadbare throwaways so perhaps it is time for a different type of textile.
One intriguing design, the origin of which hasn't been entirely, convincingly determined, is the ubiquitous Boteh.
Wikipedia says:
"The buta (Azerbaijani: Buta) is an almond or twisted teardrop motif in ornament with a sharp-curved upper end. It's a symbol of the divine fire and worshiped in Azerbaijan since ancient times. it is very common in India, Azerbaijan, Turkey and other countries of the Near East. Via Kashmir shawls it spread to Europe, where patterns using it are known as paisleys, as Paisley, Renfrewshire in Scotland was a major centre making them.
In Asian ornament the boteh motifs are typically placed in orderly rows, though especially in India they may appear in a pattern in a variety of sizes, colours, and orientations, which is also characteristic of European paisley patterns.
In Azerbaijan buta took deepest root and underwent its most significant development."

It appears in myriad shapes and configurations on our rugs, bags and textiles. For some odd reason, it is a curiously compelling shape, familiar yet enigmatic. Here are a couple of pieces from my Covid quarantine collection:

http://www.turkotek.com/show_and_tell/PAT_W_botehbaga.jpg

Normally, I would designate a name or tribe or region for a piece, but my limited research has not produced any success for either of these two pieces.
The upper piece is a small bagface 11" x 12" with 7x7 - 49 symmetric knots per square inch, with beige/brown wool warps and pink or beige wefts. It has a thin, scratchy feel.

http://www.turkotek.com/show_and_tell/PAT_W_botehbag1.jpg

This one is a bit larger, at 16" x 15" and with 5 x 10 - 50 symmetric knots per square inch - the same number as the first piece, but these knots are wider and thinner in height. This piece is thick, bulky and seemingly unworn - though it seems to have all natural dyes and turn-of-the-century age. The single knot "minor border" is creatively done, using all the colors except for the brown. It doesn't conform to any "tribal" or village-style design and its virtually unworn condition makes one think that it could have been a product of a settled weaver who made it because her family always made a set of bags - but it was put away and perhaps cut and shared between offspring as an heirloom.

Feel free to post your pretty paisley pieces for comparison.
:nerd:
Patrick Weiler

[Steve Price]

Hi All

I recommend visiting our Archives (http://www.turkotek.com/archive/archive.htm) and searching for boteh. You'll find some interesting things to inject into the discussion, not the least of which is a Peruvian Chimu piece dating to 1000-1475AD.

Steve Price

[Patrick Weiler]

Thanks, Steve
Here is a great boteh rug from the Straka Collection which I found when searching the archives.
It is a Marasali Shirvan type. The botehs are of what may be called the "flaming" type, with their serrated edges. Even the border design - which is said to be bunches of grapes - are in a boteh-like shape.

http://www.turkotek.com/show_and_tell/Straka_Marasali_pray er_rug.jpg

Here is one interesting link describing this rug and its provenance:
http://www.azerbaijanrugs.c om/guide/shirvan/marasali/antique_caucasian_sh irvan_marasali_praye r_rug21.htm

The source of the name Marasali is described on the Furniture.com page as "Marasali rugs are attributed to a village south of Shemaka in the Shirvan region of the Caucasus. The exact village is a subject of conjecture..." Some conjecture that it is named after Maraza, just west of Baku.

Patrick Weiler

[Chuck Wagner]

Hi Pat, et al.,

OK, challenge accepted. And just in time; I was starting to worry that I would have to start weaving my own bags to keep up with the rest of you...

I'll set the other endpoint for boteh rendering with this small (what I think is probably...) Jozan rug:


http://www.turkotek.com/show_and_tell/jozbo01.jpg

Regards
Chuck

[Joel Greifinger]

Wow; that's quite the boteh, Chuck. :thumbsup:


Here is an Afshar bag that was the subject of a Turkotek thread in 2010 that didn't make the cut to be archived. :rant:

It features alternating lines of botehs and...elephants in profile?

https://i.postimg.cc/W3NW1mqB/Afshar-boteh-elephant-bag.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/zvM0792N/Elephant-Web-2.jpg

Here they are, marching along:

https://i.postimg.cc/gJgMXwvn/Elephant-Web-3.jpg

After much discussion and extensive research on the folkways of the descendants of the Oghuz Turks, it was finally concluded that they were most likely representations of that mythical mainstay,

https://i.postimg.cc/WbyhtBTw/Snuffy.png

the snuffleupagus.

Joel Greifinger

[Patrick Weiler]

Chuck,
I think we studied those in my college microbiology class. Virulent strain, that one.
Joel,
Are you going to start a thread devoted to Aloysius Snuffleupagus? I'm ready!
:clap:
Meanwhile, here is a "cradle" of a fairly uncommon structure, the always popular Inlaid Brocade. Often found in tentbands, it shows up sometimes in Qashqai bags. This one was also covered in Salon 27 on Flatweaves. I attribute this one to Khamseh weavers, partly due to the "Qashqai Frieze" in red and green, the reciprocal triangle red/blue and red/green "minor" borders and the two-color twining at the top - but it could be Qashqai.

http://www.turkotek.com/show_and_tell/PAT_W_boteh2.jpg

The ground is plain-weave and a shed is opened with half the warp threads raised and the brocade wefts inserted over and under these top warps. A ground weft is then inserted and the row is pounded tightly. The white diagonal "lines" are a warp thread which goes over the top of the inlaid weft yarn to hold it in place, where it becomes part of the surface design. The warps are bundled and latticed at the top and bottom, along with several light blue beads. Just the thing to dazzle the baby and avert the evil eye.

http://www.turkotek.com/show_and_tell/PAT_W_boteh3.jpgQash qai

The borders are in loose soumak weave, the top is two-color twining and below that is a section of pick-and-pick in red/green. The "Qashqai Frieze" is in complementary weft. The odd thing is that for the top 6" or so the soumak is mostly also done on the open shed.
These things took a beating in everyday use and they are not often found in the market, regardless of the type of structure used.
The boteh design is quite triangular, but still identifiable as such. The borders are "wacky" to be kind. But I like to think that it was purposely designed to be quirky in order to both engage the baby and to distract the evil eye.
:yin_yang::jester:
That's my story and I'm sticking with it!

Patrick Weiler

[Patrick Weiler]

One of my favorite Baluch rugs.
At least I thought so until Joel straightened me out. It is a Kordi from NE Persia - replete with offset knots and 9x14 - 126 kpsi symmetric knots. It is +/- 19" wide x 34" high 48x86cm. A bit large for a balisht - that should have been a clue. But, when I got this I was clueless. And now, I am just older.

http://www.turkotek.com/show_and_tell/PAT_W_boteh.jpg

The edges have been overcast and it has "a little bit off the top" from the Roomba. It has an interesting abrash of the field color, from a light purplish brown to a deeper nearly blackish/purplish/brown.

http://www.turkotek.com/show_and_tell/PAT_W_boteh1.jpg

I had noticed some offset knots around a few of the botehs and you can see where the width of the field changes several times up the rug - this is also where the knots are offset by one warp "per step". The moths got to it near the bottom for a bit - but I think when they got to the offset knots it confused them, so they left the rest of it alone.
This can confidently be called "best of type".
:laughing_2: :laughing_1:
Because this one seems to be the only one of its type in existence - unless you are hiding one under the bed, in the bunker or as a doggy bed.

Patrick Weiler

[Patrick Weiler]

Way back in post #6 is a Khamseh "cradle" in the Inlaid Brocade structure - as well as soumak and other techniques. There is also a "complementary weft Qashqai Frieze" at the bottom and a row of pick-and-pick and some twining at the top. This may indicate that these techniques were being learned by the weaver who may have made that piece for her anticipated family - or in a hurry by a pregnant mom who needed to get it finished soon.
:eek:
I had noted that "for the top 6" or so the soumak is mostly also done on the open shed."
The incessant clamor for a picture of this oddity has been overwhelming. About as overwhelming as anything tends to be in these days and daze of Covid Quarantine. So, with no further ado:

http://www.turkotek.com/show_and_tell/PAT_W_boteh2a.jpg

The weaver wove the lower borders and then got up to where the field started. She then wove a row of the soumak borders at one side, opened the shed for the Inlaid Brocade in the field, then closed the shed for the soumak at the other side - likely working back and forth across the weaving. When the shed is open, the lower warps are left uncovered, so the only time you see the brocade yarns from the back of the piece is when the weaver is finished with a color and drops it through the lower warps, where it becomes tightly lodged when the weft is beaten down, or she accidentally loops the brocade yarn under the lower warps. Or if she is done with a color and lets it hang loose until she needs it for the next Inlaid Brocade boteh further up the weaving and pulls it tight.
It may be that near the top, she accidentally opened the shed before weaving the inner reciprocal green/red border and decided to complete that same effect at the far side of the piece. Then, after a few more rows she decided to keep the shed open for the "major" yellow/dark blue border as well. And, hey, what the heck, who needs a closed shed for soumak anyway. Right? Unless I posted the piece upside down, then the story changes.
:pie:
Altogether, this is a rather unusual work of art.

Patrick Weiler

[Joel Greifinger]

Because this one seems to be the only one of its type in existence - unless you are hiding one under the bed, in the bunker or as a doggy bed.

Pat,

Well, sort of. :monalisa:

This small Kordi rug has offset knotting, most notably in the 'S' border. It also has the necessary botehs to qualify for this thread. :dancer:

https://i.postimg.cc/25x2qsj6/Kordi-rug-w-offset.jpg

Joel

[Filiberto Boncompagni]

Hi Pat,
The weaver wove the lower borders and then got up to where the field started. She then wove a row of the soumak borders at one side, opened the shed for the Inlaid Brocade in the field, then closed the shed for the soumak at the other side - likely working back and forth across the weaving. When the shed is open, the lower warps are left uncovered, so the only time you see the brocade yarns from the back of the piece is when the weaver is finished with a color and drops it through the lower warps, where it becomes tightly lodged when the weft is beaten down, or she accidentally loops the brocade yarn under the lower warps. Or if she is done with a color and lets it hang loose until she needs it for the next Inlaid Brocade boteh further up the weaving and pulls it tight.
It may be that near the top, she accidentally opened the shed before weaving the inner reciprocal green/red border and decided to complete that same effect at the far side of the piece. Then, after a few more rows she decided to keep the shed open for the "major" yellow/dark blue border as well. And, hey, what the heck, who needs a closed shed for soumak anyway. Right? Unless I posted the piece upside down, then the story changes.

I read twice your technical explanation and it made me dizzy :confused:. Perhaps I need more coffee.
But it's an interesting piece anyway :cheers:

Regards,

Filiberto

[Chuck Wagner]

Hi Pat, Joel, Filiberto,

It seems that Our Threadmaster has a very strong inclination toward pieces with botehs rendered in such a way that one would assess that the weavers were wearing boxing gloves, eschewing those pieces with renderings closer to what is likely "original intent" constructed in a place with good light and fingers not yet afflicted with arthritis.... :dancer:

OK. Game on. I can name that tune in one note :cheers:

http://www.turkotek.com/show_and_tell/brun3.jpg


http://www.turkotek.com/show_and_tell/brun2.jpg


http://www.turkotek.com/show_and_tell/brun5.jpg


http://www.turkotek.com/show_and_tell/brun4.jpg

Also, Pat, to me it appears that the finish work on the final (upper) kilim end on your brocaded piece is done differently - and maybe more hurridly - that that on the starting kilim end. That tent band construction weave is an interesting and tedious construction method, but thoughtfully designed to take wear on the back side while protecting the visuals on the front.

Joel,

Elephants ? Hmmm... I think I saw a complementary example in a book; I'll try to find it.

Regards
Chuck

[Richard Tomlinson]

Did someone mention elephants?


Elephants in chariots?? :sherlock:


http://www.turkotek.com/show_and_tell/elephant.jpg


FYI, the rug is currently for sale, so pls no comments re value.


Rgds Richard

[Chuck Wagner]

Hi Richard,

That piece certainly has a split personality, eh ? The level of detail in the boteh rendering is vastly different from the borders.

Joel,

This is the piece I remembered seeing, maybe heffalumps rather than elephants.

Or musk oxen. Or wooly mammoths. Or truffle pigs...

http://www.turkotek.com/show_and_tell/heffalumps.jpg

This is from a Russian language book on Turkmen Folk Art. The caption says it's a bag for storing things (a torba) from the Kerki region, second half of the 19th century. Ersari work.

Kerki is in far SE Turkmenistan, on the west bank of the Amu Darya.

Regards
Chuck

[Patrick Weiler]

There is certainly a lot to "unravel" here, to say the least.
Chuck, Rich and Joel. Those aren't elephants.
At best (a generous assertion) they are Elephantasies.
Rich, yours look more like wart hogs.
Chuck, yours are obviously Siberian musk oxen.
And Joel, it's not a trunk - it's actually a pony tail. You are looking at the wrong end.
Note in your close up that these are a person's head in profile, with obvious features such as an eye, nose and open mouth.

https://i.postimg.cc/gJgMXwvn/Elephant-Web-3.jpg

Chuck, on your curious boteh carpet, several features appear Afshar-like, though the format is quite unusual for that group.
You mentioned that "Also, Pat, to me it appears that the finish work on the final (upper) kilim end on your brocaded piece is done differently - and maybe more hurridly - than that on the starting kilim end."
My bad. I should have added a better picture to show the ends in better detail. So, I folded it over to align both ends next to each other.

At the top is the brown and yellow two-color countered twining and below is the section of red/green pick-and-pick, which is simply two colors inserted over and under adjacent warps and then a ground weft is inserted. Several rows of this become columns of alternating colors. It is nearly impossible to make out the pick-and-pick from the original picture.

http://www.turkotek.com/show_and_tell/PAT_W_qradle.jpg

At the bottom is a complementary-weft so-called Qashqai Frieze. Often, in Khamseh work this frieze is done in colors other than the typical Qashqai blue and white. It is a bit easier to make out on the original photo than the pick-and-pick. Below that is a row of two-color countered-twining in red and blue. And of course at the bottom is the quite original network of connected, cabled warps with "netted sleeves' covering tufts of the colored yarns used in the cradle - and a better picture of the blue clay spheres.

Filiberto, you said that my description of the structure "made me dizzy". It could be your isolation and quarantine causing that symptom, too, but I'm not a doctor. Chuck described it better when he said "That tent band construction weave is an interesting and tedious construction method". Marla Mallett explains that tent bands need to be strong and durable, so they twist the warps tightly and set them very close together to make a stronger textile. Using a shed and weaving the soumak wefts only on the top set of warps gives the fabric a "double thickness" and keeps the back smooth - for easier installation onto the tent frame with less friction. These tents swayed and moved with the wind and during use, so a smoother textile wouldn't catch or snag as readily.

Patrick Weiler

[Dinie Gootjes]

Pat, I think that your "blue clay spheres" are actually glass beads with clay in the hole. They are made on rods, metal or even bamboo, which have the clay applied to make the beads release more easily once the glass has cooled. I have antique Chinese glass beads with the same remnants of clay.

[Dinie Gootjes]

Actually, there were loads of them on this large bag I sold recently. All white, except for one blue bead. And all glass.

https://i.postimg.cc/zvKhDXxQ/Large-bag-Wilbert-001.jpg

[Patrick Weiler]

Dinie,
A close look at the blue beads seems to show a light colored, grainy interior with a shiny blue exterior. I should have a photo to post in a day or so.
So, while you are waiting for evidence, take a look at this big boteh bag. The medium blue comes across as more "electric" than real life. It is 28" x 20" 70x50cm. It has 7h x 10v, 70 symmetric knots per square inch. The pile is "evenly low" and the top and bottom minor borders have both been rewoven. Notice the "real" warp of mixed colors at the top, but plain white warps at the bottom.

http://www.turkotek.com/show_and_tell/PAT_W_boteh6.jpg

It has a boteh field. Go figure. And what I call the Spiky Leaf border found in Khamseh and Afshar weavings. The warps are mostly deeply depressed - likely due to this Covid shutdown.

http://www.turkotek.com/show_and_tell/PAT_W_boteh7.jpg

This was a piece I bought on line "back in the day" and the newly woven top and bottom weren't disclosed. I have no idea how much it would cost to have that done today, but likely more than the amount I paid for the piece, as sometimes I can be a particularly parsimonious picker.
:cheers:

Patrick Weiler

[Dinie Gootjes]

That is a very nice bag face, Pat, and none the worse for its reweave, especially as you were not the one paying for it :dancer:. By the way, you are the only person I know who would provide his whole flock of boteh with cool shades!

https://i.postimg.cc/rwR0nh2j/SWP-boteh-bag-Pat-Weiler-deeply-depressed-warps-3.jpg

Here is a small flock of less fashionable boteh on a little chanteh, probably Afshar.

https://i.postimg.cc/j2WtxFXk/Afshar-chanteh-boteh-002.jpg

There is some wear on the back, but the front is basically full pile. It was woven upside down, though it is not one of a pair of khorjin. Why would that be? Did the weaver want to start with the fun part?

https://i.postimg.cc/NfDvhYBf/Afshar-chanteh-boteh-003.jpg

[Patrick Weiler]

Dinie,
It took a while, but I finally found this reference to these blue-covered beads, which apparently are called Donkey Beads:
"These beads are made of faience which is basically the first manmade glass-like substance that originated in Egypt and spread throughout the Middle East. Donkey beads historically were manufactured in Qom, Iran where local quartz stones were ground into a powdery substance and mixed with clay and frit and when soda and copper were used as dyes, the bright blue hue was the result of the firing."
Here is a closer look, showing a couple of places where the surface glaze has been chipped away, revealing the inside whitish color:

http://www.turkotek.com/show_and_tell/PAT_W_beads.jpg

I like your chanteh. I think it is Khamseh because of the 4-square-meander border and the twill closure panels. Your question of why the pile is "upside down" is likely because this was a double bag at one time. A review of many small bags like these shows that the vast majority of single bags have no closure devices, but often a strap or even iron rings at the corners for a strap or handle to be attached. And most of the double bags have been separated to be more saleable.
Here is a link to a very delightful blog all about these small bags. The author even references viewers to check out Turkotek.
:applause:

https://spchanteh.blogspot.c om/

Patrick Weiler

[Patrick Weiler]

This little Khamseh bag, which is called a two-sided chanteh, has no botehs in the field. The major border, though, is made of nesting botehs. The top half has the "endless knot" design and the bottom half has the "swallowtail diamond" design. It is 14" x 22" 36x56cm. There are 8h x 12v asymmetric, open left knots for 96 kpsi. It has remnants of the complementary-weft Qashqai Frieze in red and blue at both ends, but no closure system. The top was folded over and sewn down, indicating that it was made as a single bag. I read on the Chanteh blog that some of these chanteh-size bags were called "hunting bags" to carry cartridges, but they would have been quite handy for a variety of things, from money to jewelry, utensils, smoking materials and more.

http://www.turkotek.com/show_and_tell/PAT_W_boteh3a.jpg

The reciprocal diamond minor borders and brown warp also point to a Khamseh origin. Notice that with the 8 wide by 12 high knots, the motifs tend to be rather squat, or flat rather than square or round. An even number of knots - such as 9x9 - would have produced a square or round design.
I have sent a picture of another Khamseh chanteh face with a similar nested-boteh border to the moderator. It is in the covid-queue awaiting processing.
:nerd:
Patrick Weiler