IIAIIThe International Magazine of Antique Carpet and Textile Art

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

Art Director Liz Dixon Art Editor Sam Paton

Publisher Sebastian Ghandehi

Senior Advertisement Executive Ralph Emmerson Advertisement Executive Rosario Canade Advertisement Co-ordinator Angharad Britton

Distribution Assistant Chris Armstrong

Circulation & Database Consultant Veronica Purdey

THE COVER Karabagh sumakh saddle-bag half, south Transcaucasus, third quarter 19th century. 0.53 x 0.60m (1'9" x l ' l 1/4"). John Wertime, author of Sumak Bags o f Northwest Persia & Transcaucasia, considers this one of the greatest known sumakh bags. The harmonious effect achieved by the generously spaced and proportioned design of diagonal bands is rare in such bags, which generally are more densely decorated. It forms a distinctive sub-group with another, similar bag illustrated by Murray Eiland in Oriental Rugs from Pacific Collections (1990, pi. 192). Both share the diagonally banded red, white and blue palette, all-wool construction and an undecorated light red back. Private collection. USA.

Issue 99

49 EDITORIAL

Thoughts on the HALI Fair, a hugely enjoyable ACOR 4, a single owner sale that remained earthbound, rugs of dubious pedigree at auction, the AORTA conference in Tucson, and HALI 100.

51 LETTERS

Positively the last word on purple from Harald Bohmer; Clive Loveless on Kurdish rugs; Nicholas Wright adds his voice to the ongoing C-14 debate; a germech across my threshold? Not likely!

53 FRAGMENTS

An Inca tunic from the Museum of the Americas, Madrid; coveted book award for Ikat; Michael Franses’visit to Hackwood reveals a Turkish village rug in a Lady's portrait; ushering in a new post-Stanzer era at the Austrian Society for Textile Art Research.

55 POSTCARD

John Mills writes from northern Spain, where the Monasterio de Las Huelgas in Burgos and the church of San Isidoro in Leon yield remarkable textile treasures.

57 FORUM

A cache of carpet fragments in a museum in Tbilisi leads Murray Eiland III on a journey to a remote cave site in Georgia, and opens up the debate on early pile weaving traditions in the Transcaucasus.

61 CONFERENCES

Sheila Blair reports on a symposium on ‘Safavid Art and Architecture’ in London; a Sackler/Smithsonian conference on 'Ikat Textiles in Asia’ takes place in Washington DC; ICOC Italy, a call for papers.

64 FIRE AND WATER

Rehamna Carpets, Recent Field Research in the Plains of Marrakesh Marcel Korolnik The mainly Arab weaving tribes of the Plains of Marrakesh make a variety of pile and flatweaves. Lack of reliable information has meant that these rugs are generally misattributed, a situation that the author is seeking to remedy through his ongoing field studies in the area.

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HALI 99

70 FORBIDDEN TERRITORY

Early Islamic Audience-Hall Carpets Avinoam Shalem What can be known of the use of early royal carpets? Literary sources show that the carpet on which a caliph was seated was an inviolable area, an extension of the royal presence that could not be entered without special authority.

78 THE IKATS OF INDIA

Rosemary Crill The dyeing and pattern making skills of Indian textile craftsmen have ensured the renown of ikat weaves from the Subcontinent. The Victoria & Albert Museum’s Indian Department boasts an extensive collection of these textiles, which are surveyed here by the author of an important new book on the subject.

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