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Afshar, Southeastern Iran, Kerman area
Bagface, late 19th century

The curiously asymmetrical design of this bagface is not unique; it appears on other Afshar bags and is also used as a repeat pattern on their rugs.¹  In the field, two schematic human figures are recognizable but clearly secondary. The larger forms, which are much more difficult to interpret, are probably extreme stylizations of floral elements - rosettes and palmettos - found in the borders of many urban carpets. On some Afshar rugs, the diagonal element - turned upside-down - has been converted by the weaver into a large and naturalistic hen, in which case the design is called morgh ("chicken").²  The suggestion of creatures is subtler here, however. Beaked, birdlike heads peer in opposite directions from the base of the palmette, and beasts with crested heads share a scaly diagonal spine; these may be mutant versions of the old Chinese combatants, phoenixes and dragons.³  A deep colored and distinctly floral border, often seen on other Afshar bags and carpets, lends this bagface a modicum of sobriety.

J.B

1. For an example, see John J. Collins, Jr., Flowers of the Desert, Newburyport, Massachusetts, Walrus Press, 1989, pl. 40.

2. See an entire flock on a rug reproduced by A. Cecil Edwards, The Persian Carpet: A Survey of the Carpet-Weaving Industry of Persia, London, Duckworth, 1953, pl. 284, p. 279.

3. See, for instance, James Opie, Tribal Rugs of Southern Persia, Portland, Oregon, James Opie Oriental Rugs, Inc., 1981, pp. 180-181. Opie suggests this and illustrates a similar bagface.

Published: John J. Collins, Jr., Shiraz, Newburyport, Massachusetts, Walrus Press, 1987, pl. 22