Posted by Wendel Swan on August 04, 1999 at 18:45:34:
In Reply to: Re: Talish? posted by George O'Bannon on August 04, 1999 at 17:51:41:
: When I first looked at this rug, it seemed like a Talish/Moghan area rug because of the rosette border that is certainly Talish. The cotton wefts also indicated that region, and the knot count is within range. My thought was that if there was evidence of red or blue "anchor" wefts used for the reinforced selvage, this would be a very definitive clue. These wefts are often anchored into the pile weaving as much as six inches, so they should still be evident if they were used for the original selvage. Perhaps Wendell could look at the back of the rug and let us know. I do know of a yellow ground rug with this pattern and about the same size that is either Kazak or Karabagh.
Dear George,
There are no anchor wefts of any color. It is possible that more than six inches could be missing from each side, but I doubt it.
I own one Talish and am reasonably familiar with the typical Talish weave. The yellow ground rug is not, in my opinion, a member of the Talish family even though it does have that rosette border which is commonly found on Talishes.
The rug is also unlike the typical Kazak or Karabagh. I own two other rugs of a similar size which also demonstrate "weft ease" as Marla has described. One of them is published in the Shahsavan section of Jim Opie's Tribal Rugs book.
It is difficult to make an attribution, but there is at least a reasonable chance that this rug was woven by the Shahsavan. At least an argument can be made for that attribution and I cannot fit into any other category. However, I do not want to make an attribution by default.
Wendel