HALTThe International Magazine o f Antique Carpet and Textile Art
Editor Daniel Shaffer Deputy Editor Jill Tilden Assistant Editors BenEvans, Abigail McCullough Editorial Assistant Sania Rahman Consultant Editors Michael Franses, Robert Pinner Contributing Editors Julia Bailey, Alberto Boralevi JohnCarswell, Steven Cohen ThomasCole, RosemaryCrill Susan Day, Donald Dinwiddie Murray EilandJr. Anthony Hazledine Rina Indictor, Ralph Kaffel AlanKennedy, DeWitt Mallary JohnMills, VanessaMoraga Thomas Murray, PennyOakley Carlo MariaSurianoWendel Swan ParvizTanavoli. JohnWertime
Designer/Art Editor SamPaton Assistant Art Editor DamonRitchie
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THE COVER Arkilla, indigo-dyed wedding hanging, probably Peul tribe, Mopti area. Mali, first third 20thcentury. Approx. 1.30 x 5.00m (4'3" x 16'4"). Aspectacular arkilla, very similar to the present piece anddocumented ashaving beenwoven in 1921. is in the collection of the Museumder Kulturen, Basel (inv.no. Ill 20460; Michele Coquet, Textiles Africains, Paris 1993, pi.40). Coquet suggests that these dramatic sub-Saharan narrow-strip textiles used to hide the nuptial bed are woven by menof the semi-nomadic Peul tribe in the ‘NigerBend’ region usinghandspun local wool andcotton. They are knownby avariety of namessuch as arkilla munga or arkilla jenggo, according to the tribe for whomthey were made, with specific patterns being used for different tribes. Both in design and in their limited palette, arkilla showconsiderable trans-Saharan Berber influence. Courtesy Berdj Achdjian, Paris.
HALI 105
Issue 105
67 EDITORIAL
In the feast or famine tradition of the international art market, a single summer day sees the sale in London not only of four Rothschild Safavid carpets, but of an exceptionally rare and beautiful English Elizabethan 'Turkey-work' table carpet.
69 LETTERS
Turkmen dyes don’t run says Peter Hoffmeister; how to express C-14 dates clearly; keeping pregnant cows warm at night; Uzbek bench covers; Ghirlandaio in Florence; how Topsy came to Penge; a Persian trading post but apparently no rugs traded; bottom-up bagfaces.
73 FRAGMENTS
fhe villagers of Maraza wove horse trappings too; a Fatimid tunic for the Ashmolean; talking blue in Apt.
75 FORUM
Continuing the discussion on Marasali prayer rugs, Jeff Spurr argues that the familiar design probably emerged no earlier than the 19th century, under the direct influence of Kashmir shawl production.
78 ART DECO MASTERWORKS
The Carpets of Ivan Da Silva Bruhns Susan Day The French artistes-decorateurs of the 1920s and 1930s perfected the concept of the completely realised and integrated room design, with the carpet playing a crucial role. Supreme exponent of the genre and most successful caipet designer ol his generation was Ivan Da Silva Bruhns.
82 DISTANT SOURCES
Rugs and Flatweaves of the Northern Zagros James H. KJingner The weavings of the Herki and other Kurdish tribal communities in the rugged Zagros Mountains of southeast Anatolia, centred on the town of Hakkari, are startlingly different from those of surrounding regions. The author looks at their designs and characteristics, and considers the cultural context from which this tradition evolved.
88 MUDDY RIVER BLUES
Jenny Balfour-Paul A recent West African journey reveals the continuing production of indigo and the use of resist-dyeing techniques amongst the peoples of Senegal and Mali.
94 ICOC IN ITALY
A selection of little known Anatolian carpets from Istanbul’s Turk ve Islam Eserleri Museum will travel to Milan in September; Bardini carpets known and unknown, many newly restored, and other Florence events planned for the 9th ICOC.
99 EXHIBITIONS
Rugs from Kuwait’s al-Sabah Collection visit Kuala Lumpur to celebrate the opening of the Islamic Arts Museum of Malaysia; ikats from Andhra Pradesh in Farnham: treasures from Assisi at the MMA, New York; medieval textiles from Europe to China at the Abegg;