3'3" x 4' Pakistani Baluch Pictorial Rug | Cars Camels and Birds | Burgundy Field | Ivory Star Border
Few rugs make people smile the way this one does. It is a 3'3" x 4' tribal Baluch from Pakistan, hand-knotted in wool pile on a cotton foundation at approximately 180 to 220 knots per square inch, and instead of medallions it shows rows of cars, camels, ducks and keys woven by hand. It has never been used, is in excellent condition and comes with a certificate of authenticity. Nearly square and easy to place, it is one of the most unusual pieces among our small rugs, a great conversation piece for an entry, a child's room, a study or a wall.
Design and Motifs
The field is split into 2 columns and 7 rows, and each row repeats its picture side by side like a pair of illustrations. Reading from the top, there are butterflies with keys, then red cars with striped blue and ivory roofs and spoked wheels, then red ducks beside keys and flame-like red tulips, then ivory camels with blue saddles. Below them come rows of blue figures set between zigzag bands, another pair of red cars, and a final row of butterflies and keys mirroring the top. The drawing is simple and confident, built from stepped lines that give the cars and animals a toy-like charm. An ivory border with red and blue stepped star rosettes frames the whole scene. Pictorial rugs like this record the world the weaver saw around her, from the camel caravans of the desert to the cars that came to replace them.
Burgundy, Red and Ivory
The ground is a deep burgundy, almost aubergine in places, and across the camel row it darkens to dark blue in a broad band, a natural color shift known as abrash that comes from wool dyed in separate batches. That variation is a sign of handwork and gives the field movement. Bright red is reserved for the pictures themselves: the cars, the ducks and the tulips, so they jump out against the darker ground. Dark red and red fill smaller details and many of the border stars. Ivory and beige draw the camels, the keys and the butterflies and fill the border, the lightest notes in the rug. Blue and dark blue color the car roofs, the camel saddles and the standing figures, cool accents that balance all the red.
Baluch Weaving and Pictorial Rugs
The Baluch are a tribal people whose homeland stretches across the borderlands of Pakistan, Afghanistan and eastern Persia, and their weavers have long been known for dark, rich palettes of burgundy, aubergine and blue. Alongside their traditional geometric designs, some Baluch weavers began knotting scenes from daily life: camels, birds, household objects and, more recently, cars and trucks. These pictorial pieces are collected for their personality as much as their craftsmanship. This rug is made in Pakistan, and we list it with our hand-knotted Oriental rugs and among our tribal rugs. It brings the tradition to life in a small format, red cars and ivory camels side by side on a deep burgundy ground.
