Vintage Saddle Bag

Dimensions: 180cm long, 80cm wide. The seat is 80cm x 80cm, and the back the same 80cm x 80cm.
Code: CLOTH 9521

This double saddlebag, in superb warm earthy colours, has been converted to a wonderful floor cushion, with a backrest. Easy to move, reversible, sturdy, and with soft colours that would suit most decors. On one side is a diamond geometric pattern, and on the reverse are stripes.

This woollen saddlebag was hand-woven over eighty years ago by the Tartar tribe near the town of Mazar-i-Sharif in Afghanistan close to the Uzbek border. This area is on the famous silk route, where caravans of traders once transported goods from Central Asia, through Afghanistan, into the Indian subcontinent and onto trading posts established along the Indian Ocean. It was purchased from one of India’s most reputable carpet dealers in Delhi. It is superb piece and is in immaculate condition.
Most of us think of carpet makers only producing floor covers, however, the same artisans also create ancillary textile objects. Nomadic tribes across the Middle East, from Anatolia to Central Asia wove bags as containers for everyday items. Most notable is the double saddlebag, known as a heybe in Turkey and a khorjin in Iran and the Caucasus. Double saddlebags were woven in various dimensions and used to hold personal effects such as jewellery and clothing or household items such as bedding or even food supplies like flour and salt. Often it was female weavers who spun the wool, dyed the yarn, and created these strong and resilient textiles, on small portable looms. They demonstrate the mastery of the weavers and reflect centuries-old artistic traditions