Medium Storage Bag with Scrolling Design
Artist
Baluch, Western Aghanistan (Afghan)
;
Aimaq, Western Afghanistan (Afghan)
Date
Early 20th centuryMedium
WoolDimensions
Work : 32 x 16 in. (81.28 x 40.64 cm)Credit Line
Gift of Verne Trinoskey and Paula Armintrout TrinoskeyObject Number
2019.25.33
Label
This rectangular storage bag may have been used by a nomadic or semi-nomadic family to store food, spare clothing, weaving materials or any variety of personal possessions. As is common, it has a pile-woven front and a flat-woven back. Loops at the top of the bag can be threaded together to fasten it shut. The pile-woven front allows it to double as a comfortable cushion or pillow. The bag was likely woven in Western Afghanistan by a Baluch or Aimaq woman. The Aimaq are a mixed ethnic group of Turkic, Mongolian, Iranian and Afghan ancestry. There are four major Aimaq sub-groups: the Taimani, the Timuri, the Jamshidi and the Firozkohi. The weavings of the different Aimaq sub-groups often are similar to each other and to Baluch weavings, making it difficult at times to assign a weaving to a specific group.