Posted by Mike Tschebull on August 09, 1999 at 06:33:25:
In Reply to: Re: Rug 4 Only posted by Daniel Deschuyteneer on August 08, 1999 at 22:05:58:
: Dear all,
: What interesting comments. Mike's attribution is surely one I would accept without many reserve.
: Michael, is this rug Turkish or Kurdish, did Kurds inhabited and wove in this area?
: Reading Wright and Wertime (Sumak bags of Northwest Persia & Transcaucasia) comments page 109,
: " Qaradagh also known as Qarajeh Dagh, was inhabited by six Turkic speaking tribes and five of them are of probable Kurdish origin. Their presence in Qaradagh goes back to the Safavid period when they were moved there by the government The sixth tribe, the Haji Alilu, is composite of diverse elements from Transcaucasia that entered the area after 1828 ……… ".
: " Our knowdlege of the weavings of the Qaradaghi tribes is woefully lacking……Generally speaking, their material culture is very close to that of the Shasavans….
: Hoping this can help
: Cordially,
: Daniel
There isn't really an issue of ethnicity here - the locals don't consider themselves Kurds. I'm told that after the Afghan wars in the 18th century, Azarbayjan was depopulated and Kurds from the south moved - or where moved - into the area. As material evidence of Kurdish in-migration, there are several designs in east Azarbayjani kennereh that are like those in west Azarbayjani (Kurdish) pile weaving as well designs and color use that are very like Kurdish weaving from Hamadan province. For more on this issue, see my article plus endnotes on Sarabs in Hali.
Incidentally, I think attribution for Daniel's bags can be accepted as very specific. Just do the comparisons with the pile rugs, which I can definitely localize.
There is no question in my mind that such weaving is village work, I only wonder why it is relatively uncommon. The answer: villagers probably did use many more flatwoven (warp-faced and weft-faced) bags than pile bags, which were used up and are hard to attribute.
Mike