Afghanistan, meaning land of the Afghans, has been an ancient focal point of the Silk Road traders and a valued prize for migrating nomadic hordes.
A highly diverse ethnicity coupled with mountainous terrain and cold steppes perfect for sheep rearing, results in carpets with a kaleidoscope of deep cultural meaning.
Afghan natural conservatism resists commercialisation thru foreign influence so even many new rugs have a solid aesthetic and eternal "feel".
Please enjoy my personally selected collection.
Milton
The Iranian plateau is basically Persia where it all began.
The term Persia can include, as an historical region, Parthia, and Media, Afghanistan and Pakistan west of the River Indus, parts of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan and the Caucasus, but for rugs it is synonymous with modern Iran.
Welcome to my selection of true Persian Rugs, chosen in Iran at source and highly recommended.
The mountainous areas of West Asia are home to a fascinating, mostly peasant culture spanning a long history of wool and weaving. Refer my photo-article Timelessness - A Pictorial Journey
West Asia includes the Anatolian Plateau, parts of Kurdistan in Turkey and Northern Iraq and Syria and the Balkans.
Mostly these rugs are symetrically knotted of low knot count and have a lovely flexible, homely, comfortable feel. Some say they exhibit the best, most original Turkic Art of all rugs. Like the Anatolian Kelims here we often find a palette that tends to Tertiary rather than Primary hues.
Kelims are flat tapestry-woven carpets or rugs produced in all the rug regions. They contain less wool and are quick to make compared with the pile rug and so traditionally people with fewer resources make Kelims. Also those at warmer or lower altitudes need only Kelims for warmth.
Kelims are highly graphic and make great art on the wall. I love them not least because they often intrigue with unusual weaves.
Enthusiuasts believe they are closer than pile rugs to the mythical archaic original rug and so are collected avidly.
Milton Cater Contemporary is a saviour to many: It connects cloistered women weavers to the wider world of high fashion, saving them from evil mass production: It similarly allows local rug designers and wool dyers entre to a wider world: and it's exciting to me to be involved in Modern aesthetics.
So wonderful to see the best traditional rugs being made with handspun wool and natural dyes in the same house as a rug versioned from a famous European designer or Artist. Maybe it's just a vignette, a piece from which to extrapolate, but, look, here is the proof of these weavers' personal creativity.
More at Desert Rose Newsletter: COLOUR - Contemporary Carpets
Morocco is a diverse country with a rich culture. Through history, Morocco hosted many people coming from the East (Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Jews and Arabs), the South (Sub-Saharan Africans) and North (Romans, Vandals, Andalusians, Moors).
Most rugs, however, are made by the BerBer tribes living in the Anti and High Atlas and the Southern Slopes of Sub-Sahara.
Once considered the poor cousins of Persia and Turkey, Moroccan carpets are now recognised for their individual aesthetic.
If basic technological Western civilization is getting to you the antidote is Traditional Textiles and what better place to start than here!
Random eclectic pieces for your delectation.
The Caucasus is the mountainous area between the Caspian and Black Seas.
The rugs are bold and dramatic, with great contrast and clear colours defining angular motifs.
Like Afghanistan The Caucasus was a Silk Road conduit and is just as varied, proud and conservative.
Similarly the rugs have an early primitive feel that reeks of a certain timelessness.
Be amazed!
Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that is one of the world's most populated places. The traditional rug weaving areas are in the drier, colder regions where wool weaving technology developed very early. These pastoralist cultures are more similar to the other rug areas like Afghanistan and mountainous Iran than to their manufacturing cousins on the lowlands.
Click to see the rugs.
