This large bag face is a product of the Aimaq-Hazara, one of the tribal groups of the Chahar Aimaq.

It is rare, genuinely tribal and has a very archaic presence.

I have found no comparable weaving in the literature.

The range of color is limited but is utilized effectively to create pleasing visual harmony.

The piece is finely woven with extremely precise design execution.

There are eight primary bands with many accompanying secondary stripes.

The largest band displays diamond and half diamonds in an endless, horizontal repeat.

Perhaps the most technically impressive aspect of the piece is the skill with which the weaver produced the illusion, if not the reality, of both geometric and curvilinear design elements.

For example, there are four bands with horizontally positioned ‘S’ motifs.

In two of these bands the ‘S’ motifs are connected by alternating diamond shapes.

The rendering of these ‘S’ motifs is quite geometric.

In the other two slightly larger bands, the ‘S’ motifs are embellished and the forms are interlocked.

Visually, these bands the ‘S’ forms appear to be decidedly more curvilinear.

In Western Afghanistan and Eastern Persia (Iran), ‘Aimaq’ is generally translated as ‘tribal people’.

There are four tribes of the Char (four) Aimaq. They are the Jamshidi, the Aimaq-Haraza, the Firoz Kohi and the Taimani.