Lot #41: Vintage Baluch Hand-Knotted Prayer Rug

Vintage Baluch Hand-Knotted Prayer Rug • The Baluch tribal weaving group, specifically from the borderlands of Northeast Iran (Khorasan province) or Western Afghanistan (Herat region). • It is characterized by the prominent central mihrab (prayer niche) architectural design framing a deep navy blue field, flanked by stylized columns and a bottom register featuring geometric Tree of Life floral motifs • Material & Composition: • Pile & Warp Material: Both are 100% natural hand-spun wool. • Foundation: Wool or cotton weft and warp with short hand-fringed ends. • Dyes: Traditional organic/vegetable- based color fast dyes • The stepped arch structure at the top orients the rug to towards Mecca. • The triplet of branching plant design at the bottom field represents longevity, creation, and growth. • This is a "tribal" weaving rather than a mass produced rug. The blue colour varies, this is called "abrash", and occurs in tribal weaving when a weaver runs out of a batch of hand-dyed wool and spins a new batch, and the colours vary. • This rug contains approximately 9 to 10 horizontal knots per inch, so rug contains roughly 278,375 individual hand-tied knots. • This rug was woven sometime between the 1970's or 1980's, making it roughly 45 to 55 years old. • In very good condition, no holes, rips, or tears, but does show wear from age. View Images. • 166 cm. x 108 cm. or (65.5 “ x 42.5”) Dimensions: 166 cm. x 108 cm. or (65.5 “ x 42.5”) Pickup category timeslot {A}