Herat South View of Mosque

ID#:460, Small Village Afghan War Rug This war rug was woven in 1997 in Herat, Afghanistan. It stems from an interesting tradition of Herati pictorial war rugs. An example of this can be seen on our collectors page, war rug I.D. number 7. This is made in the same style and tradition and incorporates similar images. Rugnumber 7 is loaned to museums and galleries throughout the world. The border of this rug has beautiful color. This border pattern is indicative of a particular group of rugs made outside Herat. Note the similarity to the main border of rug 7, as well as this rug #227, and #263 The main structure in this war rug found on the left is a mosque. In the mountains, on the right, is an anti-aircraft piece. Just to the left of that are two red and blue geometrical images. These represent the Mujahadeen hiding out in so-called pill boxes, where they dig out an area to safely protect themselves from detection as they fight. There is text written in Farsi throughout this war rug. This is a beautiful rug with outstanding colors and forms. Sure to be treasured and an interesting conversation starter, to boot.

ID#:263, Small Herati Landscape War Rug This is an older war rug in excellent condition. This rug has a beautiful sheen on the wool. The use of very nice colors in addition to the border's natural wool can be seen in various colors throughout. This war rug is wonderfully drawn and the weaver was quite the artisan. There is also the wonderful illegible text on this war rug that is seen consistently in older soviet-era war rugs.

ID#:227, Small Pictorial #6 The condition of this older pictorial rug is very good with one caveat: there is a two inch by 1.5 inch section on the top near the fringe with moth damage. The wool is excellent and the design a classic. The image is an armored column rolling through the streets of a town, probably the old city of Herat. There is foliage and a chicken in the foreground, then a road with abstracted armor, then a city scene with a mosque. Behind the city are mountains with anti aircraft positions, and above the mountains is the sky with airplanes.

ID#:7, Large Herati Pictorial Afghan War Rug Very good. Tip fade throughout. Pronounced abrash in in border brown, from burnt umber switching to olive brown. Line across weft where rugs seems to have been folded and then worn, six inches long. Bottom end not square, it droops in the middle. This is a view of Masjid-i Jami from the northwest, most likely seen from the Citadel. The guard stripes are the same as the main border of rug 923, which is analogous to a Baluchi rug from the 19th century. For a very clear drawing of the mosque see Najimi p. 134.