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Josephine Powell show of flatweaves and bags
Images and article by Raoul Tschebull 29 April 2007
 At ICOC Eleven, there were several compelling
exhibitions with absolute blockbuster content, but my
favorite was the comparatively modest Josephine Powell
show of rural Anatolian flatweaves and storage bags,
plus Josephine's excellent ethnographic photographs.
Yes, the pieces were wonderful, well conserved,
mounted, and lighted, set up in an old palace with a
two story arcade which fit the scale of the material
on display.
But the real spark was supplied by the late Josephine
herself, an ethnographer and photographer of some
talent, who lived in Istanbul and was admired by all
who knew her. She visited rural nomad encampments and
villages in her van and between the late 1970's and
the 90's, and collected the pieces we saw at the
Yildiz Palace. Absolute color, color harmony and
artful design were her drivers. The collection is
well documented with her insightful text in "Giving
Back The Colors" and an equally good companion
catalogue, "Examples from Kilims". Both catalogues
are soft-cover, well designed, and have good color reproductions.
What follows are images of pieces I liked; sometimes
they are only details, which give the best idea of
color and basic design. Many of the flatweaves are
fragmented.
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Detail, kilim from south central Anatolia. Anatolian slit-tapestry
kilims were the quickest pieces for nomads to weave, but were the hardest
to get right. |
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Kilim from Northwest Anatolia |
Portion from a striped kilim from Konya, probably originally three to
four meters long |
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Detail, kilim half from central Anatolia. The magic colors in kilims like
this one are aubergine and salmon. |
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Detail from a saf-like kilim half, maybe from Karaman |
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Detail, kilim half from south central Anatolia |
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Small kilim from northwest Anatolia |
Warp-substitution cicim |
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Kilim half with reciprocal hooks |
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Storage sack, Bahshish, mixed technique, back partially missing |
Storage sack woven by Karakoyunlu nomads |
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Raoul Tschebull, Tschebull
Antique Carpets, 29 April 2007
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