Baluch Balisht (142x46cm)

Older Baluch rugs constitute one of the most popular group of collectible weaving arts. It is
largely owed to their genuine tribal character as for the most, until quite recently, they were
made only as utilitarian woolen objects for domestic use.

Only indigenous materials (wool and goat’s hair, both hand-spun) were used in the past to
produce a variety of tent and animal trappings and other objects of need.
Dyes, exclusively plant-based, were extracted locally too, and though few and far between
(indigo, madder, walnut shells), they were used masterfully often in combination with light
brown camel and sporadically bleached white sheep wool.

And yet, despite such sparsity of resources, the Baluch tribes were able to obtain ‘… most intense
colors within a limited color palette (Dewitt Mallary).
The effect of aging in these intriguing works of art adds as well to their aesthetic impact as
greens, for instance, fade into their basic blues and sporadically yellows.

Iron-rich mordants used in dying wool by the Baluch, predominantly in dark colors, corrode and
cause wool to brittle chiseling out sections of pile as if in ancient stone bas-reliefs.
The origins of the Baluch remain unclear and though linguistically Persian, Baluch clans may
differ in terms of their ethnic identity. Notwithstanding, over the centuries, they produced a
uniform and characteristic body of work.

Their weaves show a variety of influences, but all display a unique style with minor Turkoman
overtones adopted through the historic proximity of domicile