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This salt bag (namakdan) presumably comes
from Kurdish weavers, from an area in northeast Iran near the town
of Quchan in the province of Khorasan. The wide neck is common for
Kurdish bags of this type. According to Wilfried Stanzer, whose book
Kordi1 focuses
exclusively on Kurdish weavings from this area, "these bags were
important in the mountains, where the animals needed additional
salt" (pg. 206). The bag is similar to others that Stanzer dates to
around 1930.
The design repertoire includes elements that were popular with
weavers of numerous different ethnic groups throughout rural Iran.
The main four-armed device within a diamond was used frequently in
pile weaves, and the “latchhooked” medallion in the alternating
diamonds was widely used in Jaf Kurd bags from western Iran. The
main border design, called the "running
dog" or "bird's head" by Westerners, also had widespread appeal from
the Caucasus eastward to the Yomud Turkman
weavers. In Stanzer's book, this border design is cited as having
been used most frequently by the Milanlu or Tupkanlu nomadic tribes.
Most frequently, the color scheme for the border is primarily blue
and white; the blue and brown combination in this piece is less
common.
These Kurdish weavers were also very fond of the rows of repeated
animals seen on the back of the salt bag. According to Stanzer, it
was more typical for the weavers to intersperse rows of stripes with rows of
animals or other devices on a light ground, but there are other
examples that, like this piece, have a uniform ground with one row
after another of supplementary-weft designs.
JA
1) Stanzer, Wilfred,
Kordi, 1988, page 207 -- similar Namakdan; page 169 for rows of
animals and other devices on plain, off-white ground.
Additional
References:
Reinisch, Helmut, Sattel Taschen, 1985, plate 59 -- Quchan Kurd
double khorjin with similar designs on the front, and rows of
devices on off-white ground (between stripes).
Opie, James, Tribal Rugs, 1992, plate 9.21 -- Quchan Kurd kilim with
broad range of animal figures.
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