Carpets and Textiles in the Service of Religion

Baluch Prayer Rug
Iran or Afghanistan, 19th Century
Wool pile
106.5 x 167.5 cm (42 x 66 in)
Bevis Longstreth Collection

This well-made and well-preserved example of a Baluch prayer rug has tightly packed, offset rows of small tree-like ornaments in the main field. In the opinion of the late Dr. Dietrich Wegner, one of the few rug experts to have lived and worked among the Baluch, these motifs identify it as the work of a sub-tribe Dokhtar-e Qazi, meaning “Daughter of the Judge,” of which little is known in the West. Weavings of this type are much appreciated by collectors.

BaluchPrayerRug

ReligionBaluchPrayerrugdetail

Below – “A dervish boy praying”. Some of the usual equipment of the mendicant dervish is present, including a begging bowl, and and axe. It is interesting to find an early image of a Baluch prayer rug in use. Persia, 1903

Baluch Prayer Rug