Important early landscape rug from a good collection, but a dealer who shall remain nameless, 'tea washed' it.
This rug features a landscape with two large gridded minarets, possibly the Minaret of Jam. Smaller buildings sit throughout the rug with tall towers while a road snakes down the center. At the top and bottom of the rug sit faded subtle areas with mountains packed with helicopters and planes.
Although this rug has been washed, the bright orange and red are still vibrant and the overall color scheme of the rug is really nice.
There is a small section of repair in the bottom left side of the fringe which isn't very well done craftsmanship wise.
Age: First half of the 1980s
This rug is subtle and fascinating. The colors are understated while the pattern keeps your eyes moving across the entire piece. The border is classic and solid, yet the center imagery is a bit more unusual and frenetic. The simple helicopters are common to this style of rug. What is unusual are the little planes sprinkled between the choppers and mandala-like floral designs. The rugs shape is imperfect, with one end wider than the other.
Age: 1980s or 1990s
This rug was purchased by Warrug in the late 1990's. It has a nice, even pile. Its color palette is earthy, and the green has faded to olive. Pile has medium oxidation of color. The rug's age gives it an allover tip fading which attractively softens color. There is a quarter inch hole on the bottom border (see pictures). The main field motifs use a two color alternating knot coloration in a checkered pattern. A red knot has a green knot on either side and above and below. This technique softens overall coloration nicely. The field color is a very dark Prussian blue. The cream colored outlines unify the design.
Age: Early 1990s
In 2020 two piece of this design were woven. This example has uses darker colors, with a dark blue background, and a darker blue inside the medallion. Each rug uses a buff color for one quadrant of the medallion, and half the drone and the medallion background are the same color.
All the colors are very rich. The rug is heavy from the dense, high quality wool.
Condition is new and perfect.
This rug seems to be a riff on antique (and contemporary) Turkmen designs known by the name of the 19th century town where tribal and workshop rugs were consolidated, Bokara, or Bukhara. Warrug doesn't traffic in antiques, but the rug in this link is an example of an Ersari Turkment rug
Age: Arrived USA November 2020
This rug is remarkable for its fine quality. This rug exemplifies the best of weaving from western Afghanistan: soft, lustrous wool, lovely sheen, dark colors.
Strong design. Note the superb luster of this rugs wool. Design alternates between rows of two tanks with text inside and three large ewers. Throughout the negative space sit grenades and small flowers, and the whole field is surrounded by an open guard stripe of linked flowers and leaves.
The border consists of tanks, rifles, and helicopters on a green background. The mustard yellow and bright orange accents pop off of the olive green and navy blues.
The rug was acquired by Warrug in 2003, and was first offered for sale in 2016.
Age: 1990s
Most recent, and best, photos are at the bottom of the page
Rows of bright green, red, and brown tanks, jets, and rifles run through this rug creating an interesting geometric pattern on a rich blue background. Super shiny and soft, the wool is very high quality.
Age: 1980s
Price on Request
Rug has wear appropriate for it's age. Pile is 3mm long in worn areas which are mostly in middle of rug. One can see light one knot spots on rug which are where warp or weft strings tied. The light blue seen in the MiG at center is faded more than other colors from cobalt blue to soft cerulean. Fringe excellent. The bright reds and blues are very exciting.
An interesting colorful mosaic of weapons, jets, helicopters, grenades, and other war motifs. Border is very similar to the imagery in the field, but separated by a brown guard stripe.
The design of the fighter jets in the center is unusual and unique for this rug. The way that the trucks are stacked in the border is also unusual. The rectangular shapes in the helicopters is very realistic. This all suggests that this is an early rug.
Age: Mid 1980s