130-131 / 168
129
128
75
JAJIM WITH FLYING BIRDS
BIRJAND, KHORASAN, IRAN, CIRCA 1930
Handspun and handwoven wool, natural dyes
60 x 152.75 in (153 x 388 cm)
$ 3,035 - 4,550
Rs 2,00,000 - 3,00,000
Nomadic and semi-nomadic pastoral communities
once lived across most of Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Central
Asia and the Middle East. Weaving was central to
their way of life and they made a number of textiles
including the tent or
chador
for shelter, saddlebags to
carry their belongings, carpets to sit on, and coverlets
to keep them warm. The
jajim
, a Turkish word for a
warp-faced flat weave, was central to nomadic life
in the tent. It was used as a spread on the floor, a
hanging on tent walls, a cover for piles of bed clothes
and a blanket on cold winter nights. It was also used
as a room divider, separating the woman’s area and
the kitchen, from the more public spaces of the tent.
Birjand lies in the east of Iran, near the border with
Afghanistan; the Baloch who live here are semi-
nomadic. The women weave the
jajim
on horizontal
looms where the heddle rod is anchored in the
ground. The
jajim
is always woven in narrow strips to
maintain an even tension in the weave. These strips
are later stitched together along the selvedge. Each
strip is woven in a flat-weave, making it a warp-faced
textile. While the patterning is not symmetrical, the
colours of the narrow bands in green, maroon and
black are repeated periodically. Within them are
designs in white, a series of lozenges and motifs that
represent flying birds.
The edges of this
jajim
have a fringe and indicates
that this may have been prepared by the urbanised
households. Jasleen Dhamija acquired the present lot
in December 1970 in Birjand.
Weaver weaving strips of
jajim
, Iran, 1970