James Opie • Tribal Rugs: A Complete Guide to Nomadic and Village Carpets

Bulfinch Press, 1998. Hardcover. 328 pages. Bound in blue cloth with gold foil title to spine. Extensively illustrated with color photos.

Good. Bright pages with sparse highlights throughout. Remainder swipe to bottom page edge. Moderate rubbing to bottom board edges. Front hinge slightly loose.

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Providing a survey of the rug weavings of the nomadic peoples of Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey, the Caucasus and Central Asia, this volume follows the history of their design evolution from the 2500-year-old Pazyryk rug (the oldest complete rug of complex design) to antique and traditional designs, and up to the present day. As tribal life gives way to relentless modernization and it becomes too late to simulate artificially the broad cultural support on which a living craft depends, the art of tribal rugs becomes increasingly the domain of the collector and the scholar. The book's discussion of the origins of tribal weaving patterns is accompanied by illustrations and diagrams which enable readers to identify the relationship between the different patterns.