HALI CONTENTS

The International Magazine o f Antique Carpet and Textile Art

Issue 76, Volume 16, Number 4

Publisher & Editor A lan M arcuson A ssociate Publisher S eb a s tia n G h andchi

D eputy Editor D an ie l Shaffer Managing Editor J ill T i ld en Assistant Editors T an ia G u h a , Im ogen T i ld en Editorial Archivist & Librarian N icholas Purdon P ic tu re Librarian John S troud

Chief Contributing Editor R obert P in n e r Contributing Editors Ju l ia B a iley , A lb e rto Boralevi S teven C ohen, T hom as Cole Rosemary7Crill, M ichael F ran ses Anthony H az led in e , R a lph Kaffel Donald K ing, D eW itt Mallary John M ills, T hom as Murray Penny O ak le y , J am e s W. R e id P h i lip p a Scott, C a r lo M aria Suriano Parviz Tanavoli, E le n a T sareva John W ertim e

Art D irector Liz Dixon Art Editor A nderida H a tch

Advertisem ent Manager Ju l ie W ic k s Advertisem ent E xecutives C h r is t ia n e Di Re, Conrad Shouldice Advertisem ent Co-ordinator A ngharad B ritton

P rojects and P rom o tion s Manager Matthew M argetts

Subscriptions Manager & Administration A shley S p in k s Publisher’s Assistant W endy K a sabian D istribution Manager Marc Thom as System s Manager V e ronica Purdey R eceptionist Zobida Khan

German Supplem ent Editors M aria S ch la t te r , T an ia G uha Translators Dorrit D unn. Susanne M attern

THE COVER ‘■Ralucb’ carpet, probably Sarbandi tribe, Chakhansur, N im ruz area, Afghan Sistan, inid (?) 19th century. 1 .5 7 x 2 .6 4m (5'2" x 8 '8 "). A ccording to Jerry Anderson (see pp. 7 8 - 9 3 ) , rugs o f this design type, som etim es attributed to the Taimani in the litera tu re, are the work o f the Sarbandi tribe o f the S istan region, which straddles the m odern Iranian/Afghan border. Warp: Z2S, ivory wool; Weft: 2Z, light brown wool, 2 shoots; Knot: 2Z , wool, AS open le ft, 6H x 7V = 4 2 / in 2 (6 5 0 /d m 2); Sides: traces o f 3 -co rd ivory wool overcast with light aubergine wool; Ends: plain w eft-faced flatw eave; Colours: 9 . Private co l lectio n , USA.

3 Q C

' ! % * \

63 EDITORIAL An informed Turkoman market makes its judgment; expert commentators agree; can they all be wrong?

65 LETTERS

Carpet blindness in Memling scholars; Alexander’s dating of a white field ‘Seljuk’ carpet; Jeff Boucher remembered;

additional ‘Baluch' weavings in the V&A.

69 FRAGMENTS What do a Han horse, a 17th century Chinese screen, a 17th century Italian painting and a modern Italian-designed Near

Eastern weaving have in common? Briiggeman & Bohmer spotted on the box; the Layton jacket and portrait; Golden

Griffin in Tuva and digging furiously.

73 FORUM

William Christian goes back to basics; the first international symposium on Tibetan art in London focuses on issues of style.

78 FROM THE HORSE S MOUTH Talking Baluch with Jerry Anderson During recent years so-called ‘Baluch' rugs have shot to stardom, and everyone now plays the attribution game. Seeking clarification, HALI interviewed a rare ‘expert’ with on-theground experience of travelling and living among the tribes in both nomadic camps and fixed settlements in Baluchistan,

Sistan, Khorasan and Afghanistan.

90 THE STORY IS FREE

A n d y H a l e

Using the same material discussed by Jerry Anderson, Central Asian specialist Andy Hale adds a complementary view of the

Afghan dimension of the ‘Baluch’ question.

94 THE BOUVIER COLLECTION

Medieval Arab-Islamic Textiles

L i n d a W o o l l e y

In both breadth and depth the Bouvier Collection offers a powerful evocation of a multifaceted and creative textile tradition. As the Arab world expanded in the 7th century, the range of techniques broadened to include embroidery, knitting, printed textiles, ikats, brocading and knotted pile weaves, alongside the more familiar tapestry weaves.

104 THE METROPOLITAN QUARTET

D a n i e l W a l k e r

A curator's considered analysis of the Met’s admired group of small Persian classical silk rugs, attributed to Kashan and soon to be on display together for the first time.

Hali Publications Limited K ingsgate H ouse, K ingsgate P lace London NW6 4TA , UK T e lephone ( 4 4 7 1 ) 3 2 8 9 3 4 1 Fax (4 4 7 1 ) 3 7 2 5 9 2 4 A M ember o f The Centaur Communications Lim ited Group

HALI 76

108 EXHIBITIONS Japan’s first major exhibition of oriental rugs at the Osaka Museum of Ethnology; Roman, Byzantine and Medieval art at the Virginia Museum; ‘Knotted Splendour’ in Chicago; Pugin at the V&A; the Museum of the American Indian in New York;

a rerun of the ’93 Hamburg Turkoman show in Krefeld at the

Deutsches Textilmuseum; Islamic art at the Rotterdam Museum of Ethnology; resist-dyed textiles at Cleveland Museum; pictorial rugs in Basel; tiraz at the IMA, Paris, and textiles of the Miao of Guizhou in Farnham, England.

4