Bakhtiari Pile Saddle Bag, Opened

Stripes, hooks and a little patch of checkerboard, as though the weaver kept changing the subject.

This pile saddle bag, opened, is Bakhtiari, from Persia (present day Iran), and dates to the early 20th century. It is wool. The Bakhtiari are a nomadic and semi-nomadic people of the Zagros mountains, and their bags and trappings were generally woven for daily use on the move. Opened flat, this one shows bands of fine stripes in rust, navy, olive and cream. Between them run rows of hooked and stepped motifs, some knotted in pile. A small diamond lattice and a block of squares sit at one side, where the bag's face once was. It measures 2.2 by 4.5 feet.

Unpacked, at last, and rather more colorful inside.