Saturday, September 18, 2010

Afshar 'horseman' double bag

 

















It is always difficult to decide when a chanteh becomes a khorjin (saddlebag). This is probably more of the latter than the former, but it is small and intimate (which makes me think, perhaps fancifully, that it may have been a gift to a husband or betrothed) so I think it deserves a place here. It was acquired recently from a collector in the US, and it measures 13" by 14" per bag, not including the beautifully patterned kilim joining panel. Figures on bags are comparatively rare. Note the wonderful small animals!


Ed Stott, having seen this posting, drew my attention to a a rug with a comparable motif that is illustrated in Jenny Housego's 'Tribal Rugs'. The horseman, it seems, carrying a bunch of burning twigs, is part of the entourage of a groom on his way to fetch his bride.