Hunter Morin, Collecting Bags and Small Rugs, Part 2

This is the second part of a two-part post, that is a virtual version of a Rug and Textile Appreciation program that Hunter Morin

gave at The Textile Museum, here in Washington, D.C. on   January 15, 2011. 

Part 1 of this program treated pieces that Hunter bought into the Museum for his session.  If you have not seen Part 1 you can reach at at the link below:

https://rjohnhowe.wordpress.com/2012/05/29/hunter-morin-collecting-bags-and-small-rugs-part-1/

Part 2, here, treats other pieces that were photographed, subsequently, at Hunter’s home.

We begin with the piece below.

IS6

(numbers “skip”)

Comment on IS6: Caucasian , late 19th century.  Great color and design . Harold Keshishian would’ve called this a happy rug .

Here are some detail images of this piece.

IS6a

IS6b

IS6c

IS6d

The next rug had a classic Karachopf design.

IS11

Comment on IS11: late 19th early 20th century . Muted Colors in good condition with original end  finish.

Herewith, original and finish, are some detail images of this piece.

IS11a

IS11b

The next rug was a Ghiordes, old, and showing its age.

IS14

Comments on IS14: There’s not much to add, except to say that Mrs. Sullivan from Winterthur and McCoy Jones used to argue over the age of this piece . I think some of the patchwork repairs could be older than the rug itself . My  conclusion , And I agree with Mrs. Sullivan is that the rug is early18th century.

There was a time when Ghiordes niche design rugs were seen as the “creme de la creme,” and no respectable Anatolian rug collection was considered complete with one.  But these rugs have fallen in favor over time now and I do not know of another example in a local collection. 

But, for me, this rug has merits, despite its type and condition, and I have included details of several aspects of it below.

IS14a

Many Ghiordes pieces with this design seem to have miniaturized design elements in their spandrels.  The scale of those in this example are satisfyingly larger.

IS14b

IS14c

Cross-panels are infrequent in many kinds of rugs.  Turkmen engsis, famously feature them, and some Anatolian designs do as well, including such Ghiordes designs.  Again, the larger scale of the devices included in the two cross-panels in this rug add to its attractiveness.

IS14d

The scale of the main border on this example is also pleasingly large.

IS14e

The drawing of the niche and its contents is crisp and detailed and the articulation of the devices at its edge suggest age to me.

IS14f

On one wall was this elaborate Chinese embroidery.

IS21

Hunter said that although this piece has lost most of its original colors, its continuing strength is that it displays a remarkably wide variation in embroidery stitches. This piece was mounted by the Textile Museum years ago when they would do such work .  It came from the Belmont estate .

Here are some detail images of IS21.

IS21a

IS21b

IS21c

IS21d

IS21e

In some instances, hints of its former colors are retained.

Hunter said that this piece, and some of the pre-Columbian pieces in his collection were conserved and mounted some years ago by The Textile Museum staff.

The next piece was on the decorative side.

IS26

Comment on IS26: A Hammadan rug , an early purchase that has lived up to its name of providing long life and hard wear.

Here is a detail of one corner.

IS26a

The next rug was a less than usual Caucasian, with strong graphics.

IS30

Comment on IS30: There is not much to say about this Caucasian rug except that it is extraordinary  for its bold design ,fabulous color,and terrific border . John’s photographs do it justice.

Here are some closer details of it.

IS30a

IS30b

IS30c

IS30d

IS30e

The next piece was a long rug.

IS36

Comments on IS36: late 19th century Caucasian

Here are two closer details.

IS36a

IS36b

The next piece was an interesting saddle cover.

IS37

Comments on IS37: mid 18th century saddle rug from Northwest version, most likely  tag is “Ravar Kerman.”

Here’s a look at some closer details of it.

IS37a

IS37b

IS37b

IS37d

The next piece was this Yomut asmalyk.

IS42

This trapping is attractive, has good color, and is in very good condition, without making any claims to great age.

Here are some closer details of it.

IS42a

IS42b

It is sometimes claimed that a good asmalyk must have an effective top stripe.  Although it is not dramatic, this piece has a clear one.

IS42c

The drawing is crisp and articulated and the color use effective.

IS42d

The height of the field devices is not as great as in some older versions without having the “squashed” look of some more recent ones.

The next piece was this Yomut chuval.

IS47

The virtues of this nice piece are better seen in close-up.

IS47a

IS47b

IS47c

IS47d

The colors, despite their relative mildness, and the drawing of this piece suggest that it is older, possibly before 1850.

Another Yomut chuval, below, is younger.

IS51

Its colors are good and it is in excellent condition, including its closure cords.

Here are two closer details of it.

IS51a

IS51b

The next rug was a longer Caucasian, with clear Karachopf design influence.

IS54

Here are two closer details of it.

IS54a

IS54b

There were some pre-Columbian textiles, mounted and hanging on the wall.  I managed reasonable photos of three of them.

The first is the one below.

IS63

Comment on IS63: an early pre colunbian bag

A second small piece was this one.

IS64

Comment on IS64: a Doll shirt, 700-900 AD

A third was almost miniscule.

IS65

IS65a

Comment on IS65: a doll shirt , 700-900 AD

The next piece was a front and back of half of a Qashqa’i khorjin set.

IS67

Comments on IS67: Southwest persian, Qashgai bag ,with beautiful silky wool with a Veramin feel

Here are three closer details.

IS67a

IS67b

IS67b

The next piece was the square-ish rug below.

IS71

Comment on IS71: Caucasian, late 19th, early 20th century with beautiful color ,great condition ,and silk in the center of the small medallions.

Here are some closer detail images of IS71.

IS71a

IS71b

IS71c

IS71d

IS71e

The next rug had a medallion design.

IS83

Comment on IS83: Best handle of any rug I have seen. Beautiful silky wool, very finely woven, Southwest Persia , perhaps Khamseh.  Possibly early.

Here are some detail images of aspects of IS83.

IS83a

IS83b

IS83c

IS83d

The next piece was a long rug.

IS92

Comments on IS92: late 19th century early 20th century Caucasian rug with fabulous colors

Here are two detail images on IS92.

IS92a

IS92b

The next piece was an Anatolian rug with a medallion design.

IS96

Comment on IS96: an early Bergama rug that has been restored and is reminiscent of a Bergama in the Joseph McMullen collection

Here are some detail images of this piece.

IS96a

IS96b

IS96c

IS96d

The next piece was a small item of embroidery.

IS105

Comment on IS105: this lovely small Turkish piece was in pristine condition until it went through the washing machine.

Here are two closer details.

IS105a

IS105b

With the next piece we return to the Caucasus and a Kazak long rug, with good color, and classic “cloud band” devices.

IS108

Here are several closer details of IS108.

IS108a

IS108b

IS108c

IS108d

IS108e

IS108f

Next is another Caucasian long rug, this time with Talish-type design features.

IS112

Here are two detail images of aspects of this rug.

IS112a

IS112b

Another Caucasian long rug followed.

IS118

Here is one closer detail of this piece.

IS118a

Next, is another Karachopf design example.

IS121

Two detail images of IS121.

IS121a

IS121b

We now move to a small Caucasian rug with a long, narrow shape.

IS134

Comments on IS134: there are some who think this small piece might be Turkish

I took several detail images of this piece.

IS134a

IS134b

IS134c

IS134d

IS134e

The next piece was a departure and seemed old and unusual.  I do not have a comprehensive “all edges” photo of it.  Hunter believes that it was likely a hanging of some sort.

IS141

Comment on IS141: a masterpiece of embroidery with silver and gold Threads.I have no idea about its origin.

Again, I took several closer details of this piece.

IS141a

IS141b

IS141c

IS141d

IS141e

IS141f

Comments on details of IS141:  This piece contains a great deal of embroidery in metallic thread and is in precarious condition.

Note:  This is John Howe.  I would be interested to hear suggested attributions for this piece.

The next piece was a small Tekke Turkman “wedding” rug.

IS147

Here are some closer details of this piece.

IS147a

IS147b

IS147c

On a nearby wall was a Yomut Turkman “tent pole cover.”

IS151

The next piece was a small Persian mat, most likely from Ferrahan

IS167

I do not think this piece is particularly old, but the rendition of the botehs is similar to that in some quite august pieces.

Here are some details of it.

IS167a

IS167b

The next piece was a complete Jaff Kurd khorjin set.

IS171

Here are some closer details of this piece.

IS171a

IS171b

IS171c

Here is the back of this khorjin set.

IS171d

The next piece was the small bag face, below, with fabulous, silky wool

IS185

We now moved to a couple of Baluch pieces.  Here is the first one.

IS152

This piece deserves some looking over.  Here are some details of aspects of this piece which utilizes some silk

IS152a

IS152b

IS152c

IS152d

IS152e

The second Baluch piece was this salt bag.

IS156

Again, a piece that merits some closer examination.

IS156a

IS156b

IS156c

The next piece was another long rug.

IS176

Comments on IS176: a yellow-ground border and a field Memling guls.  This is an early 20th century Caucasian piece.

Here are two closer details of this piece.

IS176a

IS176b

The next rug was Anatolian with a niche design from Melas.

IS179

Comments on IS179: please excuse my crude repairs . It is in process

Here are some closer details of aspects of this piece.

IS179a

IS179b

IS179c

The next rug is a departure from Hunter’s “Bags and Small Rugs” theme, but I’m going to include it because, at least here in the DC area, some collectors of the sorts of material most of us collect nowadays, also, will, on occasion, collect a Persian “city” rug.

I cannot show you an “all edges” image of it, but can give you a sense of its qualities.

IS162

This is the most comprehensive image of this piece I could manage.  My wife’s collie, Effie, insists on inspecting.  This is a room-size Tabriz that Hunter prizes.  He said that a prominent Washington, D.C. area dealer offered him a large sum for it.

Here are some details of aspects of this piece.

IS162a

IS162b

IS162c

IS162d

We end with the interesting rug below.

S124

This rug has clear “Chi-chi” design aspects, but is different from many Chi-chi’s in that the scale of the devices used in it varies considerably.  This rescues it from one criticism of many Chi-chi, that being that their dense, design devices tend to be similarly sized, resulting in lack of graphic impact, even boredom. 

The white field devices and the red armatures are relatively large.  Even the scale of the blue-ground minor borders is smaller than the traditional “Chi-chi” main border usage and so provides contrast and effective framing of bout the main border and the field.

Here are some details of this rug.

IS124a

IS124b

IS124c

IS124d

This is the end of Part 2 of this virtual version of Hunter’s Rug and Textile Appreciation program.

If you have not read Part 1, you can reach it using the following link: (insert link after publication).

Again, I thank him for permitting me to produce this virtual version, for inviting my wife and me to his home to photograph the pieces in Part 2, and for his considerable editorial assistance in providing comments on his rugs.

I hope you have enjoyed Hunter’s sharing with us, the extensive material in his collection.

Regards,

R. John Howe