Salmiya

UPDATE below. On a commercial website where dealers can offer antique rugs I found today the picture below. The dealer describes it as, "158 x 106 cm, 5'3 x 3'6, Fahralo Prayer Kazak, dated 1806/7, still in rather good condition with some old repairs." The date on the rug is clearly visible, 1261. One may calculate the Gregorian year by adding 622 (the year of Hijra) and subtracting 1261/33 (due to the lunar calendar AH, each year is 11 days shorter, so 365/11 =11.18). So, the possible year when the rug was manufactured is 1845, not 1806/07 (which would be 1221 AH). Apparently the dealer wants to suggest that the third number is a (mirrored) 2, not 6. The script is clearly Arabic, not Persian, see below. I doubt whether any serious collector of antique rugs is not aware of the importance of dates in rugs. It may be the only more or less reliable way to estimate age. It may also serve for tentatively dating similar rugs without a date. Having know...

I have recently mentioned these two guys in another posting mainly featuring my friends Seyed and Mirwuis from Afghanistan. All of them are dedicated and honest carpet dealers with profound knowledge, selling high quality pieces from their home country, from Iran and Central Asia. I don’t know how carpet business is right now in Kuwait for Ali and Hussain. It all depends on the Westerners, I suppose. Kuwaitis go for different pieces, I was told in the Persian Carpet Exhibition in Salmiya. I had mentioned them in relation to a photo which I have carried for some time even in my wallet. It shows both, Ali and Hussain and a little Afghan girl weaving a carpet. Hussain, the lad on the right, proudly smiles into the camera. Ali, his older brother, seems to be more quiet but very self-confident. The girl doesn’t smile. In fact, you can feel even an atmosphere of embarrassment emanating from the girl. She might not be older than, say, seven or eight. Let’s call her Fatima. The photo is a ki...