Posted by Mike Tschebull on July 27, 1999 at 19:35:00:
In Reply to: Re: Some Good Thoughts posted by Jim Allen on July 27, 1999 at 06:24:27:
You aren't being a grouch. There was a reason I didn't want to get into "verified". Let me say this though, the man showing me the pieces was Hermanns main repair guy in Istanbul. There is no greater authority in my mind than this person, a sophisticated man, who has handled more rugs than most of us will ever see. His thoughts were of a very technical nature about structure and it would be great if I had transcribed the musings but I was too blown away by the beautiful pieces I was shown. What I said in my above post is mostly all I remember, that and my felings about what a Shahsavan weaving is. He said the area around Karaja has produced some great "Shahsaven" material. Jim
What you're describing is, unfortunately, "he-said-she-said". It's a long way from the weaver in Azarbayjan to a repairman in Istanbul, and I would have to characterize the latter's opinion on Shahsavan provenance as typical heresay. I can imagine the provenance came from Germany, not Istanbul. Re Qarajeh, residents there told me that the Shahsavan did not camp near the village in former times. It's a small old village in a barren hilly area at the end of a long dirt road. Fascinating place. Qarajeh did produce high quality kennereh and pile khorjin in the 19th century, and very good export carpets. Mike