Uzbek flatweave

Uzbek flatweave
from Uzbekistan / northern Afghanistan
mid 20th century
Size: 340 x 144 cm

These woven and embroidered rugs, known locally as ‘gilzai’ are made on narrow tripod looms. Long strips some 25 cm wide are woven. These finished strips, sometimes packed with a multitude of complex motifs, are cut and joined, creating a textile to whatever dimension required.
In this case the embroidery is completed after the strips are joined. Gilzai are woven traditionally in Uzbek villages to the west of Masar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan.