Posted by Wendel Swan on July 25, 1999 at 19:50:16:
In Reply to: My Own Musings posted by R. John Howe on July 25, 1999 at 19:21:25:
Dear John and all,
As to whether sinuous warps may be an indicator of Shahsavan pile weaving, I would emphasize the may be. It is a structural peculiarity of a very small group of rugs that I tentatively attribute to the Shahsavan. Other pile pieces that may be Shahsavan do not share this characteristic, however.
John asks whether an "elongated" knot (one that is taller than it is wide) might be a distinguishing feature of pile Shahsavan pieces. No. Simple elongation of the knot is common in Turkey and the Caucasus, among other areas.
John also asks whether the 90 degree rotation of the might indicate that the weaver was not fully familiar with this design and whether the "banging" of those elements might also indicate unfamiliarity. I don't think so. The elements are, as you have said "crisply fluent" and their placement and their placement on the diagonal is quite precise. We merely seem to have a few bits of decoration added almost randomly, but they aren't many. I also think that any accomplished weaver could copy this motif.
Lastly, John asks if the dark ground border on the "beetle" bag (the "beetle is a different design; this is commonly called a cruciform medallion) is the same one that is used on the yellow ground rug. No.
Wendel