CIRCA: Mid 1900’s
The wetland marshes in the middle and lower basin of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in Iraq once comprised* a complex of shallow freshwater lakes, marshes and seasonally inundated floodplains. These marshes had provided a home for the Ma’dan or Marsh Arabs for at least five thousand years. They lived in semi permanent reed or mud-brick houses that were built on artificial islands made from layers of mats, reeds and mud. All of the carpet weaving, embroidery and related crafts are practiced solely by Ma’dan women. They use locally spun and dyed wool and traditionally weave the blankets on ground looms in two or more separate panels. They are then purchased and elaborately embroidered by young Ma’dan girls for their marriage beds and sometimes by mothers for their sons. The embroidered blankets are often especially inventive and are made without drawn patterns of any kind. Each weaver keeps in her head the position and size of the patterns she wishes to appear on the finished work and weaves or embroiders accordingly. Those most prized are heavily embroidered over their entire surface with a multitude of colourful patterns.
This is one such blanket that is constructed of two almost equal width panels which were stitched together once off the loom and then embroidered with beautiful subdued colour designs, and while not as gaudily coloured as some, it puts to very good use what colours are used, as it does the various designs interspersed throughout. Characteristically it is double bordered on the vertical outer edges of the two panels with a pattern of variously coloured diagonal lines for the outer border, and a ‘saw-tooth’ triangular design inside of that. The inner borders of the two panels – were they are joined together – consist of vertical strips with floral motifs. The background cloth is tan in one panel and a more reddish-brown in the other, as can be clearly seen in the close-up left-most photo in the lower row above, with both colours appearing to be from natural dyes. Older than many of its kind seen on the market today, it was made in the mid 1900’s and is of relatively heavyweight construction (6.4kg / 14lbs), the size is 295cm x 152cm, the dyes are good, and the warp, weft and embroidery are of wool. Overall a striking example of the Ma’dan wedding blanket genre and in very good condition with no repairs or reweaves.
*Tremendous changes have taken place in the weaving villages in the last forty odd years. One factor is the total absence of the Bedouin, who used to camp in the area during the winter and who traded with the weavers. Another, and even more devastating factor, which was especially detrimental occurred during the Iraq / Iran war of the 1980’s when huge swaths of marsh were drained, while others villages were flooded and much of the vegetation throughout poisoned. To this day areas of the remaining marshes are still drained in the name of ‘progress’.
For more information on Ma’dan wedding blankets and the Marsh Arabs see https://www.khm.uio.no/english/collections/iraq/ and https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/article/photos-from-1967-reveal-a-lost-culture-in-iraq