| Subject | : | Souf |
| Author | : | Stephen Louw |
| Date | : | 09-26-2000 on 04:02 p.m. |
| Hi John / Wendell I am interested in the clipping/embossing of rugs, which, if I am reading correctly, you describe as souf. The borders of the joshan you illustrate suggest a carefully planned and drawn aesthetic, and I was wondering how this clipping contributed to the overall effect. And is this the same as the clipping one sees in Chinese rugs? Thanks for a great Salon Stephen Louw slouw@global.co.za |
| Subject | : | RE: Souf on "Masnahd" |
| Author | : | Wendel+Swan |
| Date | : | 09-27-2000 on 07:58 a.m. |
| Dear Stephen, The blue grounds of the border and the field have both been clipped, although the depth of the clipping is not uniform. In some areas it is not apparent. In view of the fine quality of the wool and the careful execution of the design, this inconsistency is a bit surprising. The rug literature contains few, if any references to souf in Persian rugs. Josans are considered to be village pieces, but their precision and fineness would lead some to categorize them as "city" rugs. I have seen some Josans in which the gold ground was fully clipped, perhaps simulating the effect of having a metal thread ground, which also produces an embossed appearance, even though no clipping occurs. In those gold ground pieces, the clipping was much more pronounced. I believe that modern Chinese rugs are clipped with electric shears in the workshops. I am not certain, but I doubt that power equipment was used on the embossed Persian rugs that I have seen. In any event, the effect of the embossing is not discernable from the images that appear on your monitor. You noted that the borders suggest a "carefully planned and drawn aesthetic." It is difficult to see this from the images in the salon, but the resolution of the top border is not precise. As one often sees in these older pieces, the execution of the border on the vertical ceases quite abruptly and the top border is begun anew. One last comment on the Josan. Parviz Tanavoli has referred to this size weaving as a "masnahd." (The spelling is phonetic.) A masnahd is a small rug upon which a dignitary is seated, but it is placed on top of a larger rug. Regards, Wendel |
| Subject | : | RE:Souf |
| Author | : | Marvin Amstey |
| Date | : | 09-28-2000 on 10:21 a.m. |
| mamstey1@rochester.rr.com Dear Wendel and Stephen, My understanding of a "souf" is pile overlying a metal-wrapped ground. All the ones I've seen at Sothebys and Christies were so made. All were late 19th, early 20th c., 3 x 5 to 4 x 6 Persian and most in a prayer design. These were very popular in the late 70's, and at that time sold for 15-50,000 USD. No clipping was involved. Best regards, Marvin |
| Subject | : | RE:Souf |
| Author | : | Wendel+Swan |
| Date | : | 09-28-2000 on 11:32 a.m. |
| Dear Marvin, I too recall the metal thread soufs that were in the auction houses in the 70's. As I understand it, the word "souf" itself means wool, which is of no help when trying to figure out what the word souf means when applied to these various techniques. Persians use the word souf to describe a weaving in which the background is lower. Some Turkmen tentbands with pile on a plain weave ground would be a common example of one type of souf. But metal wrapping is not necessary for the definition of souf. Some Belouch pieces also are of mixed pile and flatweave that would be considered souf; for souf it is essential that the background be lower, not just that the technique is mixed. Although there are probably others, the only Persian rugs that I have seen with embossing by clipping are those from Josan and Kashan. Some of the metal thread soufs are attributed to Kashan. Perhaps some would not consider clipped rugs to be true souf, but that word has been applied to my Josan at one time - whether correctly or not I don't know. The yellow ground Josans which have been clipped SEEM to have been woven with eventual clipping in mind, perhaps simulating metal threads. Some are small like my "masnahd" while I have seen others in 3x5 and 4x6 sizes. With bold (but not prayer) designs and strong color and texture contrasts, I find them to be very attractive. But that is a very subjective matter. They are almost non-existent in the literature. Wendel |
| Subject | : | RE:Souf |
| Author | : | Stephen Louw |
| Date | : | 09-28-2000 on 12:14 p.m. |
| Thanks Wendell and Marvin for your informative answers. If it is true that a) the souf simulates a metal-wrapped ground, and b) that this was planned deliberately and was not done post hoc, then this is an interesting component of our understanding of the design and marketing of fin de siecle rugs. Best Stephen slouw@global.co.za |