Uzbek Julkhirs

 

Uzbek Julkhirs  probably from Northern Afghanistan or Southern Uzbekistan, woven in the first quarter of the twentieth Century. There is some tip fading, the original dye colours are more vivid at the base of the knots. The probable use of synthetic dyes and subsequent fading has resulted in a muted colour range. The lightest wool colour is natural undyed camel hair. Use of the rhombus as a design element was common in Julkhirs in this rug delineated by the dark brown sheep wool, diagonal lattice design.  This example shows particularly poor rendering of the rhomboid shapes creating a primitive rug with naive qualities.

The warp faced back is typical of julkhirs rugs, this one woven using a common method, wool warps and wefts are paired singles.

The Fabric Merchant of Samarkand

 

The Fabric Merchant of Samarkand's Julkhirs ¹

Two Julkhirs in use on the floor of a fabric merchant’s store in Samarkand Circa 1910 silk, cotton and wool fabrics as well as a framed page of the Koran are hung on the wall.

Prokudin-Gorskii employed a unique colour photographic process to capture the image of the Samarkand cloth merchant. Three glass negatives exposed simultaneously, described as triple-frame images made with colour seperation filters. The effect can be seen at the edge of the image. In post production the negatives were sandwiched together to create a colour composite. We are fortunate to have access to these early colour images.

The two Julkhirs shown in this image are typical of early 20^th Century production where Julkhirs were produced using synthetic dyes. In some the dyes are extremely unstable and bright garish colours were used, presumably a shortcut to emulate the deeply saturated naturally dyed 19^th century examples.  Compare the image to the right to the one at the front of the fabric merchants store – this rug has all of the problems associated with the use of these dyes.

See also Moshkova for other example illustrated dating from the beginning of the twentieth century.²

1 Image: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, [Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-prokc-21725]

2. Moshkova  V. G.  Carpets of the People of Central Asia (George O’Bannon,  Arizona Lithographers Tucson, Arizona, 1996 pp,. 78,86