TREASURES FROM XINJIANG
Two rugs from recent excavations
Li Wenying

Breaking news concerning the most recent textile finds in the archaeological digs at Xinjiang.
Thanks to the combination of dry air and little rainfall in Xinjiang, textiles are often well preserved in the ancient sites and graves. Carpets constitute just one form of these textiles. The rugs found here employ a knotted woollen pile on a foundation weave. The procedure used was to form a tabby as a foundation weave, then knot the wool weft around the warp and cut it to make a ‘knotted’ pile standing proud of the surface of the foundation weave. This is just the same as was recounted in Xinjiangtuzhi Shiyezhi (Documents and Illustrations of Xinjiang: Industry and Commerce): “Inserting the wool knots is just like planting seedlings, so it has been given the name ‘zairong’”. ...

A study of the origins of weaving in one of the most renowned areas of Iran, mentioned centuries ago by Marco Polo.
The region of Kirman is one of the vastest in South-Eastern Persia, comprising a huge expanse of arid land, called the Dasht-e-Lut, Iran’s largest highland desert, and famous since ancient times for its stretches of shimmering salt, left behind by an ancient marine inflow, and bereft of any form of life. For centuries, the Dasht-e-Lut desert acted as a natural defence for the regional capital, Kirman, an ancient town perched on a rocky terrace at the foot of the desert, at an altitude of approximately 1800 m above sea level. A short mountain chain protects the town from sweeping sands and moderates its climate, making Kirman hospitable. ...

The author’s thoughts during the latest congress organised by the Textile Museum of Washington.
Facetious comment offered by Kate Fitz Gibbon provides me an opening: “Everything we have heard today is not true”, which is, of course, not true. Kate’s remark, as well as Jim’s humility in providing attributions, point to the evolving state of our knowledge, suggesting, quite correctly, that we have yet so much to learn about the textile arts of Central Asia as well as about the ethnic groups that produced them. And, yet, the magnificent array of weavings, and their glorious indulgence in colours, patterns and forms, runs counter to the bleak, bereft landscape of Afghanistan and Central Asia to which we bear witness every day now in our newspapers.