Filiberto Boncompagni 

Hi Philip,

Well, thank to you and to the link posted by Joel Greifinger in a discussion thread now gone...
...I discovered that I own a War rug too. An old war rug. Better, an “old war” rug, meaning that the rug is modern; it’s the war that’s old.
Mine has not the usual paraphernalia of AK 47 (or the Chinese “Type 56”) hand-grenades and helicopters, that’s why I never thought it belonged to the category.
Its composition always intrigued me, with the men holding knives on their heads and those baffling creatures with elephant feet. Here it is, forgive the bad picture:



It’s a very fine and good quality weave, albeit not of my liking (we received it as a present).

The Textile Museum of Canada has one similar, oddly with helicopters:



Here is the Museum’s commentary to their rug:

The narrow band of helicopters across the middle of this rug connects Afghanistan’s recent wars with early Islamic history. The warrior holding two swords over his head is the legendary Islamic warrior Layth bin Qays bin Abbas, whose grandfather was an uncle of the prophet Muhammad. Brandishing a sword in each hand, he led a battle against the infidel Hindu forces (hence the elephants) who were protecting Kabul’s holiest Hindu temple. A border of geometric tanks surrounds the rug, which was woven in the Islamic year 1369, equivalent to 1991 AD. Islamic forces won the battle. The Mosque of the King of Two Swords today occupies the site of the Hindu temple. Originally dedicated in 1544, restored by King Amanullah’s mother in 1920, largely destroyed in the 1980s during the post-Soviet civil war, it has once again been beautifully reconstructed.

So, the “things” on my rug with elephant feet were, indeed, elephants. Funny, now that I know the history behind the composition (which is rather uncommon, it seems), I start to like the rug. In a couple of centuries it will be of a great value too, I suppose.

Regards,

Filiberto

Vincent Keers

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Filiberto Boncompagni

Hi Vincent,

Pakistan? I know, but the web page of the Textile Museum of Canada showing this carpet says:
Place Made: Asia: Central Asia, Afghanistan.

Mine could be Afghan as well.

Regards,

Filiberto

Vincent Keers

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Filiberto Boncompagni

Hi Vincent,

My 1990 edition of Parsons’ “the Carpets of Afghanistan” does mention a current local production of rugs.
Regards,
Filiberto

Vincent Keers

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Philip Loftus

Hello Filiberto

Always had a soft spot for pictoral rugs myself and I'm liking both the ones you've posted.Do you find that War Rugs seem to fall into a couple of broad categories, those with peaceful borders like yours, or fields with peaceful subjects and warlike borders like mine. Of course most are 100 percent warlike.

Btw have you ever seen a black guy in a rug before? I haven't.

Best
Philip

Filiberto Boncompagni

Hi Philip

Peaceful borders, yes, but quite busy.

I like the horses in mine, though.

Regards,

__________________
Filiberto Boncompagni

Rachel Armstrong

Hello Filiberto,
Your war rug is very similar to two war rugs in my collection. When I bought them they were identified as Mouri rugs from Afghanistan. They are both very finely woven, all wool, and with a floppy handle. The borders are certainly related to your rug, as are the compartments enclosing the design elements.

There isn't much online or elsewhere about Mouri or Mori rugs. One online source, carpetencyclopedia.c om, says " The Pakistani carpets, which today are mass-produced (in Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpind), are divided into Mori carpets and Persian where 90% of the Mori carpets have a Bokhara-like
pattern and other Turkmenistan patterns."

Vincent's opinion about your rug being made in Pakistan may be correct. However...

Another source, which is commercial so I won't name it, says "These elegant Afghan rugs are hand knotted in Mouri Velayat in North West of Afghanistan.
Few people will know them by name. The highly creative and meticulously woven designs are achieved by using the finest wools, natural dyes and in many cases silk highlights. Whereas normal afghan weaving is coarser and limited to reds and blacks, these stunning works have a plethora of designs and colors. Mouri rugs are the highest quality rugs woven in Afghanistan."

I was not able to find any information on Mouri Velayat so that remains a mystery to me.

Here are my rugs:









The first rug has more obvious and contemporary war elements, helicopters and what I think are rows of bombs. The second rug's imagery is older, like yours, with a lion or tiger (or maybe a leopard) attacking a deer. I'm not sure which story it's related to but I'm sure someone out there wll know.

I don't think that the Mouri rugs are any older than 10 years.

I also have a couple of c.1980's Afghan Balouch war rugs that have lions, with and without swords, a classic representation of aggression in some Soviet-era war rugs:









I love the plethora of small birds and other motifs in these Balouchs.

I hope this has been helpful in regard to your rug.

Best,
Rachel

Filiberto Boncompagni

Hi Rachel,

Yes, the first two rugs have similar borders and probably the same palette of mine.
I think the right spelling is "Mauri".
Unfortunately I have no time to elaborate. Perhaps next Sunday I will.
Regards,
Filiberto

Rachel Armstrong

Hi Filiberto,
What a difference a letter makes! I think I probably knew that it was Mauri at one time but creeping senility has taken it's toll..
I've seen a number of the Mauri rugs that have a Bokhara or Turkoman design and the quality is very nice, as are my war rugs.
Thank you for clearing that up
Rachel

Philip Loftus

Hello Rachel

The first rug you posted is the only one I've seen so far with helicopters with 2 rotors. As far as I know the Soviets didn't use them. Most likely that would make them Ch47 Chinooks and give us a post Soviet withdrawl date for the piece.

The red motif with a white cross might be a representation of the Swiss flag. Swiss soldiers, all 31 of them, went to Afghanistan in 2003, perhaps a further date marker.

Of course the cross being a Christian symbol might simply be meant as a representation of Christian forces in general.

Regards
Philip

Filiberto Boncompagni

Hi Rachel,

I had a quick look to Parsons’ “the Carpets of Afghanistan”.
“Mauri” means people “from Merv”, the city (and oasis) in (at the time Soviet) Turkestan from were those weavers – prevalently Turkmen Tekkes – came and settled in Herat.

Speaking about “war rugs” Parsons mentions that they were “first made in the area north-west of Herat City”. So, there is the possibility that these rugs were made by “Mauri” but I wouldn’t bet my money on that. I’d surely bet that your two “Mauri” and mine have the very same origin, though. I got mine almost twenty years ago (must have been 1994) by the way and the origin mentioned was Afghanistan.

Philip,
Those crosses on red shields remind me more precisely of the “Victorinox” symbol.
Perhaps one of those 31 Swiss soldiers lost his Swiss Army Knife

Regards,

Filiberto

Filiberto Boncompagni

In another thread I raised some questions: Here’s what I mean. Look at the six rugs in this thread and especially at their borders: in my opinion borders are always indicative of the origin of a rug in the sense of “in which culture or tribe they have roots”.

The first four have some brand-new, absolutely untraditional designs. Which would point to no roots, design from a cartoon, refugee camp weaver without any tradition behind her - or more likely “him”.

The fifth




has a traditional Baluchi set of borders. Hence, perhaps the weaver was Baluch (or whoever wove Baluch rugs). The composition of the field, with those medallions, belongs also to a broader tradition.

The last



has a familiar motif but I cannot point it out. It doesn’t look a “traditional” Afghan border anyway. More like a Persian or Turkmen field motif converted to a border. Same for the central medallion field. There is some tradition to it, but which one?

Regards,

Filiberto

Philip Loftus

Hello Filiberto

Do you want to discuss Mauri rugs and their various manifestations in other words all recent Afghan production or concentrate on war rugs?

The only point to war rugs maybe that they represent the kernel of the disruption to the weavers life and some kind of commentry from the weaver of either sex about that disruption. Which the others don't. Of course it most cases it maybe no more than an accurate representation in wool of a family member's weaponry.

Not knowing much about either I'm happy to follow your lead.

Best
Philip

Filiberto Boncompagni

Hi Philip,

No, mine was more a futile exercise of design analysis with an eye on tradition. I realize that the greater majority of these rugs haven’t the smallest trace of traditional design, so consider this exercise close.
Regards,

Filiberto