Dating a Mina Khani Baluch

[Mikko Saikku Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mikko Saikku]

Dear all,

I recently acquired a reasonably old Baluch in the classic Mina Khani design, although the main border is not the most common type. It was sold as "semi-antique," but I suspect it could maybe be a bit older. Here's the rug (102 x 210 cm):




The rug is in great shape with full pile. Just five colors: brick red, white, dark blue, and two distinct shades of brown. Some corrosion to the darker brown. There is a vintage leather label attached to the back of the rug by a well-known local dealer (established in the 1940s and having its heyday in the 1950/60s), stating the origin as "East Iran (Nomad)".






The closest example I could find from my library is Plate 19 ("Baluchi rug, Northeast Persia, Khorasan, Kashmar area, circa 1880") in Boucher, Baluchi Woven Treasures (King/Hali, 1996), pp. 56-57. The design is very similar, although my rug is more rigid in its execution and the kilims are not as elaborate.




Here are two additional photos with just awful colors produced by my cell phone. In the lower one, the medium brown looks almost purple.




It seems like a bit of a stretch to try to date this one to the late 1800s, but I'd be more than happy with the usual "5th quarter, 19th century" attribution. Come to think of it, I don't think I've encountered too many recent rugs with "Mina Khani" design. But what do our real Baluch experts have to say?

Best,

Mikko

[Steve Price Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Steve Price]

Hi Mikko

Why waste time and energy with photos that have awful color reproduction? There are lots of free photo editor apps (I like Photoscape, but there are many others) that can make the colors closer to real life.

Steve Price

PS - I never take photos with my phone or make phone calls with my camera.

[Mikko Saikku Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mikko Saikku]

Hi Steve,

I'm afraid you're right. The cell phone photos I've uploaded in the past have been bad, but the color reproduction this time was the worst ever (must have been the lighting). But at least it does not affect the knot count! I'll check out Photoscape in the future.

Any comments on the rug itself--pre-WWII, not that far from 100 years? (The colors all seem legitimate.)

Mikko

[Chuck Wagner Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Chuck Wagner]

Hi Mikko,

That's a handsome and well-made piece. I am inclined to suggest middle 3rd of the 20th century for this rug, based on a couple rather subjective criteria. I think it's from Khorassan; the knotting is consistent as well as the general border work and palette. I have two such pieces (images below). The criteria I had in mind are:

1) A rigidly orthogonal layout for the border and the field
2) A very densely drawn border and field, with somewhat smaller execution of the motif elements.

Contrast with the abundant use of diagonals in the border and the larger and somewhat more open fields, in the images below.

I think that both are suggestive of a later production for your rug.

Regards
Chuck

[Mikko Saikku Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mikko Saikku]

Hi Chuck,

Thank you very much for your comments. I fully agree about the generational change as evidenced by your criteria. Interestingly, the red is not as intense in the early/mid-20th century Baluch rugs I have, compared to the earlier examples in my possession or the two posted here by Chuck. (Of course, some mid/late 20th century pieces I've seen have very bright synthetic reds.)

I bought this one as a furnishing item as it is in truly excellent shape for its age. There were three Baluch from the same estate sold at the auction. The one below was labeled as antique, although I doubt there is that much age difference between it and the one I bought:



What do you and the others think?

Best,

Mikko

[PaulSmith Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PaulSmith]

I don't think your Mina Khani (and the pretty-close-to-yours other example claiming to be from 1880) are mid 20th-century pieces, myself. I would put them circa 1920, but I am also using subjective criteria, and I am much less knowledgeable than others here. Your Salar Khani rug seems a bit earlier to me. Do either of these have synthetic dyes? I cannot tell for sure, but I would guess that the dyes in your Mina Khani are all legit vegetal dyes, which I would not expect to see in a mid-20th-century example. For one thing, the indigo looks good, and by the mid-20th century they generally replaced that with an ugly black.

I have a pretty-old Mina Khani, I think about 3rd-q. 19th-c. Supposedly the somewhat-natural-looking five-petal white flowers are an older thing. I agree with Chuck about the orthogonal quality of the border in your example indicating a 20th-c. piece.



As for taking photos of rugs, I guess it depends on the phone you're using, but my iPhone does a great job, and I think your photos are fine. If it pumped up the color too much (as you describe) you can generally dial that back with computer software. I do find that I often have to manipulate color and light-dark a little to make the image look like the piece.

Paul

[Mikko Saikku Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mikko Saikku]

Hi Paul,

Thank you very much for your comments. The colors in my Mina Khani look all natural, but the red is certainly brownish compared to the red used in the 19th century Baluchs I've handled. Your beautiful rug is a good example of the brighter red I'm referring to.

I agree the Salar Khani above (which got away) looks a bit, but not really that much older--its execution, especially the main border, reminds me of the Salar Khani I posted about a year ago, cf. http://www.turkotek.com/VB56/forum/main-forum/virtual-show-tell/1193-a-baffling-baluch

Then there's the corrosion to the dark brown in my Mina Khani, but I believe Steve informed me the last time around that the Baluch stuck to corrosive blacks and browns up to the mid-20th century.

Will look into software for future postings.

Thanks again, everyone!

Mikko