a large old east Afghan tent kilim. Hand spun dyed brown/purple sheep wool in the field/background with some abrash and natural white wool and i a combination of natural and synthetic dyes in the motifs. a cowrie shell in the centre of the lower large gul and charming abstracted mini camels in the border. In good condition with limited small areas of old repairs and some broken warp threads in the lower border. 410cm long by 150cm wide.

This is the only old authentic large Afghan tent kilim i have come across. i have owned it for some years but have neglected it until now as i was unsure of its origin. Thanks to Karl Heinz Breuss for pointing me in the right direction. He has this type of kilim in his collection and has written about them in Besim 6, Wien 2011-11. i understand from Karl Heinz that this rare type of kilim was woven by a gypsy Pashtun tribe who lived by transporting goods across Afghanistan by camel.

Thomas Cole has a very good example posted on his Rugrabbit pages. As he comments in his example, this is a rare type of kilim known as 'Mokhari' after the market village of Mokhar located between Kandahar and Ghazni. You can see his example here: http://rugrabbit.com/Item/kilim-east-afghanistan-approx-4-x-10-early-20t...

For more photos see: http://kilim.ie/TRIBAL_RUGS_and_KILIMS/Pages/LARGE_KILIMS.html

Please email me for more information of with any questions.