Let's continue to learn more about various objects from our Carpet Products collection.

Today we will talk about MAFRASH.

 

A mafrash is a household item that was widely used by people engaged in cattle breeding. It was made using zili, kilim, and sometimes pile-woven techniques. This patterned bag with loops has a height of 0.5 meters, a width of 1 meter, and a length of 1.2 meters. Its form is similar to that of a tall trunk. It was used to store blankets, mattresses, and clothes, and also to transport them from the mountains to the lowlands in winter, and vice versa in spring. Nizami Ganjavi’s poem Khosrov and Shirin gives detailed information about a silk mafrash that features in Khosrov’s hunting scene.

During migration, the most necessary items were gathered into the mafrash, making them very heavy. Therefore, the mafrash was loaded only onto the biggest and most powerful animals, such as camels, horses, and mules. The mouth of the mafrash was mainly covered with a jejim (a small rug) and tied to a horse with an orkan (a narrow rope) on the right and left. Mafrash was woven in pairs like chuval, making them easy to load onto animals. A bride’s bedding, bedcover, and clothing were sent to her husband’s house in these bags. Every family owned at least one pair of these bags, while wealthy families had four or more.

The decoration of mafrash consists of stylized images of animals and birds, and astral and plant motifs. Mafrashes from Shirvan and Absheron are distinguished by a specific delicacy.

A late 19th-century mafrash from Shirvan is the pearl of the museum’s exposition. It was decorated with tamga (a tribal symbol of Turkic people) patterns that illustrate the sacred thoughts of the human mind.

 

Mafrash. Shirvan, Azerbaijan. Early 20th century. Warp, weft - wool; patterning thread - wool, cotton. Interweaving, wrapping. Inv. No. 5095