HALIThe International Magazine o f Antique Carpet and Textile Art

Editor Daniel Shaffer Deputy Editor Jill Tilden Assistant Editors Ben Evans, Abigail McCullough Editorial Assistant Sania Rahman Consultant Editors Michael Franses, Robert Pinner Contributing Editors Julia Bailey, Alberto Boralevi John Carswell, Steven Cohen Thomas Cole, Rosemary Crill Susan Day, Donald Dinwiddie Murray Eiland Jr. Anthony Hazledine Rina Indictor, Ralph Kaffel Alan Kennedy, DeWitt Mallary John Mills, Vanessa Moraga Thomas Murray, Penny Oakley Carlo Maria Suriano Wendel Swan Parviz Tanavoli, John Wertime

Designer/Art Editor Sam Paton Assistant Art Editor Damon Ritchie

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HALI 106

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Issue 106

THE COVER Shahsavan geliin, Varamin area, north Persia, late 19th century. All wool, eccentric slit-tapestry weave, 1.52 x 3.94m (5’0"x 12'11"). The so-called ‘eye-dazzler’design is ubiquitous in flatweaves from western Iran, especially those made by the Kurdish, Shahsavan, Lori and Qashqa’i tribes living and migrating in the regions surrounding the ZagrosMountains. However, all these west Iranian groups together have not produced so many, or such varied, examples as have the settled tribes, especially the Shahsavan of the Plain of Varamin, just south of the Iranian capital city Tehran. Through the repetition and manipulation of a simple design element, a doublesided, three-toothed comb-like motif, Varamin weavers have been able to create a full range of traditional compositions, including lattices, lozenge shapes, octagonal medallions, horizontal and vertical stripes, herring-bone patterns and mihrab (prayer niche) designs. This gelim has a highly abstract mihrab design, akin to those seen in some west Iranian Kurdish (Sehna) prayer gelims. Here, however, rather than separating the mihrab from the field, the weaver has covered the entire surface with chevrons, whose impact is further emphasised by the lack of borders. Private Collection, Berlin.

63 EDITORIAL

Milan’s on and off TIEM exhibition; an Anatolian study centre for Istanbul, courtesy Josephine Powell; Christie's Rothschild extravaganza; Herrmann’s rugs at RB.

65 LETTERS

Baluchmania near Frankfurt; getting a grip on ‘interval probabilities’; the beardless faction fights back; a rug found in Sweden speaks for itself, but can the accent be detected?

67 FRAGMENTS

Gideon fights his last battle at Hardwick Hall; Moorish opulence in the south of England; an Upper Rhine tapestry returns to Basel; the mammoth Grove Art goes online; a Dodds suzani for Indianapolis; Turkmen debate in Chicago; US rug societies are shaken not stirred; barbecue and kilim talk for the Austrian TKF in Graz.

71 CONFERENCES

Southeast Asian symposium season - Steven Cohen and Itie van Hout report from Sarawak and Bali.

73 POSTCARD

The public and private face of a May celebration in Marrakesh: Wilfried Stanzer watches musicians play in a carpet-strewn Entertainers' Square and joins textile friends at the home of Herwig Bartels.

78 STITCHED INLAY

A Geographical Puzzle C lare Rose The sharply defined 3-D texture of stitched inlay has been created for over two thousand years by inlaying patches, jigsaw-like, into a cut-out textile surface. Rediscovered or recreated in many cultures, East and West, such pieces were used to demonstrate the exceptional skill and patience of their makers.

83 A MAHARANI’SLEGACY

V ictoria Z . Rivers As child-bride ol the crown prince of Kutch, Rajendra Kunverba spent twenty years in purdah before moving to the West in 1953, bringing with her several trunkfuls of sumptuous courtly clothes.

84 THE VARAMIN MOSAIC

Parviz Tanavoli A surprising number of Persian tribal weavings with widely varying designations are woven in the camps and villages of the Varamin Plain. The author looks at the historical reasons for the presence of Lori, Kurdish, Turkish and Arab weavers in this area, and examines the characteristics of the region’s pile rugs and flatweaves.

94 BRITISH ARTS & CRAFTS TEXTILES

Francesca Galloway A look at the work of the precursors and exponents ol the British Arts & Crafts Movement of the late 19th century. Drawing on traditional values and principles, designers such as William Morris, J.H. Dearie and C.F.A. Voysey brought a new creative energy and vision to the moribund design scene in mid-Victorian Britain.

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