BALOCHI RUG

also spelled Baluchi, or Beluchi, floor covering woven by the Balochi people living in Afghanistan and eastern Iran. The patterns in these rugs are highly varied, many consisting of repeated motifs, such as the diagonal, evidently copied from other textile types. Some present a maze of intricately latch-hooked forms. Prayer rugs, with a simple rectangular arch-head design at one end (to indicate the direction of Mecca, the holy city), are common. Normally, the field of these prayer rugs is filled with the leaves and stems of a highly stylized tree, and geometric small plants appear in the spandrels. Frequently, the Balochi rugs have long aprons at both ends, decorated with stripes and bands of brocading. The colour scheme of older rugs is a dark combination of reds and blues with touches of white. Many pieces, including those more poorly made, also make use of varying brown and tan shades, either of camel hair or material dyed to resemble it. Balochi rugs are usually all wool, but their material may also include goat and camel hair, cotton for whites, and in some cases a few knots of silk. The knotting is customarily Senna (Sehna). The rugs vary greatly in quality, the better ones usually being ascribed to the Khorasan province of Iran. Balochi rugs are frequently classed with the products of the Turkmens but show little relationship to them.