Nishapur Beloutsch

With its powerfully heraldic design and rich colours, this is a particularly good example of the authentic nomadic tent rugs knotted by the Nishapur sub-tribe of the broad Baluchi ethnographic classification, who have traditionally pastured their sheep and goat herds in the remote mountain regions of western Afghanistan, although roaming at will to-and-fro across the Afghan-Persian frontier. Nishapur items such as this are prized for the high natural lustre of their handspun pile-wool that serves to deepen the saturated luminosity of the excellent dyestuffs, these being here superbly combined in the expression of an imposing design construction of distinctive decorative flair.