How long is a typical Kurdish runner?

Sampled runners on Sellingantiques regularly measure between three and six metres, against widths of 54 to 118cm. Several exceed five metres while staying under a metre wide. The longest measured in a title runs to 616cm. At the narrow end, one runner is recorded at only 54cm across.

What dates do dealers give these rugs?

The dated field spans 1800 to 1950, and 250 of the 270 listings carry a clean year. The 1900s alone account for 80 of them, with the 1920s, 1880s and 1890s next. Earlier pieces are thin but present: sixteen in the 1870s, twelve in the 1850s, four in the 1800s. Thirteen listings say only '19th Century', and dealer years are often rounded to a decade or given as 'circa 1900/20'. Read those as an era rather than a precise decade.

Which regions do Kurdish rugs come from?

The bulk are attributed to north-west Persia and Persian Kurdistan, with named districts including Bidjar, Senneh, Sauj Bulagh, Kolyai, Sanjabi and Hamadan. A smaller stream comes from eastern Anatolia and the southern Caucasus, with Malatya, Yuruk prayer rugs and South Caucasian runners among the sampled titles. Quchan and Kordi weaving from Khorassan is the one group sitting east rather than west.

Are small Kurdish bags collected as well as rugs?

Yes. Bag faces, salt bags, khorjin, juval, mafrash panels and yastiks all turn up, making up about a tenth of the category and weighted towards the archive. They were made as household and pack equipment first. A chanteh of 0.39 x 0.34m and a 60 x 60cm bag face show how small the collectable end gets.

What does Jaf mean on a Kurdish listing?

Jaf is a Kurdish tribal grouping. The name appears in sixteen titles and attaches mainly to bag faces rather than to floor pieces. Other tribal and district names in the archive include Sanjabi, Kolyai and Varamin.

How many Kurdish pieces come up each year?

Around 31 are listed a year on Sellingantiques, carried by 19 different dealers. The mix runs from long runners and kellehs down to single bag faces, with occasional one-offs such as a Tasheh wheat sack, a Varamin khorjin, or a lot of seventeen assorted tribal salt bags.

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Antique Kurdish Rugs

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Hand-knotted and flat-woven pieces attributed to Kurdish weavers of north-west Persia and neighbouring uplands, made for village and tent floors and for carrying and storing household goods.