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The birds on Azarbayjani and Transcaucasian
sumakh bags are beguiling. Although they vary in drawing somewhat
there are some that look like early bronzes, some that are like
forms seen on Safavid steel military
standards, and some that are very thin and stick-like most fall
into two groups: one having heads, beaks,
eyes, and large tails with simulated feathers, and the other having
heads and tails that are identical. In this second group, both
“heads” have implied eyes. Both types of birds -- or probably more
correctly, bird animals -- carry a persistent
“humanoid” figure
on their backs, which Robert Pinner argues quite convincingly
descends from Mesopotamia through Sasanian textiles.1
Other components of the bird image include a tree-like form between
the “birds”, a comb-like form drawn inside the birds, and a serrated
form above them (which is not present in the two bags illustrated
here). John Wertime identifies the Turkic names used for these
elements, but does not delve much into origins.2
Robert Pinner, in private conversation, opines
that the form above the birds is also derived from the winged disk
of Mesopotamian art, but the origins of the other forms are not
clear. It is possible that the combination is simply a pastiche.
A
detail of the complete "bird" design
from another bag in a private New England collection
shows all the elements discussed above.
The first of the pieces illustrated here, a khorjin face probably
from an area south of Sarab in East Azarbayjan, is notable for its
color harmony and the grace with which the animals parade across the
field. There is a strong impression that the border is superimposed
on an endless field.
The second piece is more crudely drawn, and some of the bird design
elements are not used. But it is quite unusual in its complexity,
with the birds appearing on different colored panels, headed in
opposite directions, with their heads oriented toward the upper and
lower edges of the bag panel.
RET
1) Pinner, R. “Salor Ensis”, Hali
60, pp 86-97
2) Wertime, J., Sumak Bags of Northwest
Persia and Transcaucasia, London, 1998, p 117.
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