What does Baluch mean on an Afghan rug listing?

It points to weaving from western Afghanistan and the Persian border districts, and it's the commonest word in the archive after design, turning up in 110 titles. Baluch pieces are mostly small, and prayer rugs with a mihrab niche dominate them. Rams horn, tree of life and Dokhtar-e-Qazi designs recur.

Which period do most of these date from?

The dated field runs 1850 to 1950. The 1920s account for 155 listings on their own and the 1900s a further 88, so two-thirds of everything falls in those two decades. Nineteenth-century dating is thin: eighteen in the 1880s, fifteen in the 1890s, four in the 1870s. Eighteenth-century pieces don't appear at all.

Are Afghan rugs always red?

Red is the default. Red or red colour appears in nearly forty titles, and the Turkmen tradition in particular is built on red-ground fields. Other grounds turn up and get noted when they do. An ivory ground is described as scarce in Turkmen work, and titles single out deep plum red, rose madder, burnt orange and faded gold.

How many come up for sale each year?

Around 36 a year on Sellingantiques, spread across seventeen dealers, so no single dealer sets the tone of the category. The archive stands at 366 listings covering pile rugs, carpets, flatweaves and bags.

Who made antique Afghan rugs?

Tribes and villages, not workshops. No weaver, workshop or firm names appear anywhere in the evidence, and every attribution is tribal or regional. The real vocabulary is sub-tribe names, which surface constantly in titles: Taimani, Sistan, Mushwani, Chakhansur, Sulayman, Taghan, Yaqoub Khani, Bahluli, Salar Khani, Firozkohi, Adraskhan, Andkhoy and Aranji.

What sizes do they come in?

Small to medium pile rugs dominate. The smallest thing recorded is a mat of about 107 by 74 cm, and several prayer rugs are described as child-size. At the other end are main carpets and room-size pieces, the largest an Ersari Turkmen carpet at 479 by 291 cm. Bag faces and saddle bags sit well below the rugs.

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Antique Afghan Rugs

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Hand-knotted wool rugs, carpets, bags and tent hangings woven by the tribes and villages of Afghanistan and the neighbouring Persian border districts, made for floors, doorways and storage.