The Salon du Tapis d'Orient is a moderated discussion group in the manner of the 19th century salon devoted to oriental rugs and textiles and all aspects of their appreciation. Please include your full name and e-mail address in your posting.
This is a Turkish rug with an arch design. Wendel thought that it might have been woven in the Mudjar area. The owner had been told differently. Wendel didn't tussle on a relatively young piece like this.
This is a khordjin type set of saddle bags with pretty good color from South Persia. The set was complete.
We speculated together about what this piece might be. Ultimately, none of us was able to say with any assurance.
This piece seemed to be Central Asian, perhaps Uzbek, but I think the owner said that it had pink wefts.
I have no real memory of this piece, but it looked like some kind of cover. Wendel said it is a jijim, probably Persian, but there was no consensus on that.
The penultimate pictorial rug on this Potpourri session was a city rug with realistically drawn figures breaking
into and out of its borders. Wendel suggested it was from Qum. The owner agreed.
Here's a closer look.
The last piece of the morning was a finely woven fragment that Harold Keshishian had conserved. Wendel said that "the handle of this very fine rug is extraordinary. The color palette and design are common in later Kermanshah rugs, but this is much older and has a wonderful tactile quality. It must have been an enormous carpet at one time and we can only speculate what the overall design may have been."
Here's a close-up of a section of the border from another shot.
After the session we talked.
And talked.
And talked.
Sometimes it's hard to get to lunch. Great material, Wendel!
A "potpourri" session invites less structure than one might ordinarily impose on a salon, and we
have decided to follow that lead here. Although there are a number of questions we could raise to initiate discussion
of the
pieces presented here, we have decided this time, initially, to wait and to see what questions the pieces raise
for you. We plan to introduce some questions that occur to us as the salon proceeds.
Regards,
R. John Howe