Semi-antique Baluch kilim from Afghanistan. 186x66 cms

A finelly woven semi-antique Baluch dasterkhan in a elegant and dark colour palette. The Dasterkhan has been very finelly woven with meticulous attention paid to the small details that include a goat heard, river courses, combs, chevron, etc. The lengthdwise border is woven with the soumak technique. In mint original condition, including the fring area. All natural dyes. A nice piece for a short corridor or to be next to a bed. 

Material: 100% hand-spun sheep wool   

Size: 186×66 cms

Origin: Baluch tribe, Afghanistan

Date of weaving: 1950-60

The dinning sofreh, also called Dasterkhan or Dastarkhan, is somewhat similar to the dinning table used in the West. Just as a dinning table can be of various sizes, so a dining dasterkhan can come in different sizes. The dimensions of the dsterkhan depends on the number of members in a family and the prosperity of the owner. However, no matter wether the sofreh is large or small, it is always rectangular, long an narrow.

The dinning dasterkhan of the tribes and country people are of wool and woven like kilims. Thus, their outward appearance has caused them to be called kilims in the West. The sofreh and dasterkhan are only spread at the time of a meal and is folded and put aside after eating. It is not used to sit on for it is, after all, a place where the daily bread and the Gods other blessings are set, and therefore improper to be used for other purposes

Sofrehs take their name from the Farsi (Persian) word for cloth and are used for several functions connected with preparing and eating food. Eating cloths are normally referred to simply as sofrehs and vary enormously in size-from small, rectangular mats for personal use to extremelly long, narrow runners for communal eating. They are woven in several standard techniques, including alternating bands of kilim and pile rug, and produced by a number of nomadic and tribal weavers in Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia and to a lesser degree, elsewhere.