Salmiya

I have posted on this blog some time ago an unusual Seh Mihraba rug from the Shindand market area in west Afghanistan. I had bought it from my friendly Afghan carpet sellers Mirwuis and Syed who used to have a small shop in Kuwait’s Souq Mubarakia. They frequently offered a variety of rugs from Afghanistan and Iran on the Friday market in the Al-Rai industrial area next to the notorious 4th Ring Road, just behind the nurseries. Opposite to the animal market, there is what is called the Iranian market where you may find in fact everything you might be looking for. The whole area is very fascinating. My friends and I liked to go there, if possible every weekend. I would like to post another, much more typical, Seh Mihraba rug here. Tareq Rajab, Kuwait’s former Director of the Department of Antiquities and Museums in Kuwait and owner of two most marvelous private museums in Jabriya (the museum for calligraphy I had a chance to visit shortly before leaving Kuwait for good in 2007),...

Seh Mihraba prayer rug Baluch, Afganistan, 135 cm x 87 cm, old (first half of 20th century) Warp: W, Z2S ivory Weft: W, Z2, dark brown Pile: W, Z2 Knots: as1 Density: 60 x 40, ca. 2400 knots per sq dm (about 150 kpsi) Height of pile: 3 mm Handle: like velvet, somewhat grainy Upper end: ca. 7 cm kilim, the cut warp ends are knotted together Lower end: ca. 8 cm kilim Sides: ca. 0.5 cm wide W Shirasi in dark brown, additional threads Colors: ca. 7: dark red, red, dark blue, dark beige, brown, dark green, pink. Seh Mihraba literally means three mihrab s, or prayer niches. While the asymmetrical composition and overall design of this Afghan Baluchi prayer rug is very typical for rugs from the Shindand market area south of Herat, the very dark colors and especially the extensive usage of dark green on this rug are not. The dark blue central area with its spandrel features a red tree-of-life pattern. It is flanked by two dark green columns and four boxes each at the top and the bottom. While...