Bashir prayer rug

Three columns of stylized flowering shrubs are drawn in the field of this long Bashir prayer rug from Central Asia. The central column, woven within the faded magenta contours of the mihrab ‘niche,’ culminates to form a rounded head topped by rams’ horns. This design dates to at least the first half of the 20th century, and was first articulated by newly sedentary Turkmen weavers in the middle Oxus region of what is now Uzbekistan. The design elements mirror the social circumstances of the weaver as she merged Persian motifs with nomadic elements. Collection of Dr. and Mrs. William T. Price