Posted by Mike Tschebull on July 26, 1999 at 20:23:23:
In Reply to: Re: Some Good Thoughts posted by Jim Allen on July 26, 1999 at 20:10:44:
: : Dear Sophia,
: : Thank you for the comments. I am quite certain that this rug is not Kurdish.
: : Unfortunately, when faced with a plethora of weavings without "Schurrmann-esque" labels, we often revert to suggesting Kurdish. Because the Kurds wove so many different designs and with such diverse structures, "Kurdish" often becomes, erroneously, an attribution by default.
: : Similarly, "Shahsavan" is often applied by default to geometric weaving (including pile rugs) with animals or human figures. Ebay, for example, currently abounds with Shahsavan attributions, some of which are blatantly incorrect.
: : I have very carefully avoided an attribution because I believe that, in the end, none can be certain. While this rug has some attributes of what I believe are Shahsavan, some aspects (particularly the border) give me pause.
: : In the spirit of shameless self-promotion, I will say that I am speaking at ICOC in Italy on the topic of Shahsavan pile weaving and that the images in this Salon will be a part of my paper. Therefore, constructive criticism is most welcome.
: : Wendel
: :I have recently been exposed to a fair number of verified Shahsaven pile weavings.... I have a very very good small Shahsaven pile rug I will send you a picture of which I acquired in Turkey. Jim
Re the above, I don't want to be a grouch, but could you tell me how "verified"? "He said, she said" doesn't really count.