| Subject | : | Sanjabi Kurd Weavings |
| Author | : | George O'Bannon |
| Date | : | 02-04-2000 on 07:48 a.m. |
| Daniel In "Tribal and Village Rugs from Arizona Collections", I presented a selection of about nine weavings that I suggest are Sanjabi with technical descriptions. This statement pulls together most references to them in the rug literature as well as an accumulation of comments over the years from rug people who have lived in Iran who have said, "That's probably Sanjabi." Their comments have usually elicited a secondary response to the effect that "That's what the Persian dealers would call them." It seems clear to me that no one with field experience has ever paid much attention to this group. Eagleton and Tanavoli were at the exhibition of these pieces, and neither has remarked one way or the other whether they agree with my hypothesis. I am familiar with your bag face and the others posted and I am not sure without seeing several of them again, whether I would put thm in my Snajabi group, but they would be from a related Sanjabi tribal unit who used a slightly different palette. Looking at the group of four, I think I see some relationship in the border patterns. Finally, your first rug with the chevron banded field is a very elegant rug. I would suggest that Persian ikat velvet might be another inspiration for this field pattern. The ikat velvets have different colors, but present much the same effect, and if opulence is the intended purpose velvet would do quite nicely. George |
| Subject | : | RE:Sanjabi Kurd Weavings |
| Author | : | Michael Wendorf |
| Date | : | 02-04-2000 on 10:28 a.m. |
| George: Thanks for your post. I have read your descriptions in the Tribal and Village Rugs from Arizona Collections book but missed, to my regret, the exhibition. Perhaps you could post here a summary of the technical descriptions. My recollection is that a distinction was made between Jaf and Sanjabi weavings based on the presence or absence of offset knotting. My understanding is also that it is assumed in the market that Sanjabi examples have a softer more pastel color palette compared with Jaf weavings which are often have a darker, deeply saturated palette. An observation I have made is that some pieces that are labeled Sanjabi have a lighter handle than typical Jaf weavings. Your comment about the relationship in the border pattern of the more typical examples is a keen one. The simple diamonds and color relationships do seem related. However, it seems to me that the relationship rather ends there in the borders and would run at least as deep with Jaf weavings as with Sanjabi weavings. Ultimately, I think the differences in palette, handle, basic design orientation and color juxtaposition argues against this group being the product of either the Jaf or the Sanjabi. Hope you have been and remain well. Regards, Michael Wendorf |