“Timbuktu to Tibet” at the Textile Museum is a rambling bazaar of a show, ranging from camel knee covers to prayer shawls. Visual delight is its main achievement in calling attention to the bright, intricately woven rugs and fabrics collected by an elite group of New Yorkers called the Hajji Baba Club.
Taking its name from a 19th-century novel by British author-diplomat James Morier, the organization was founded in 1932, a time when Americans were still infatuated with objects from the Near East. Its members — businessmen, curators, architects — traveled abroad to snap up valuable designs for next to nothing. Today, there are 185 Hajji Babas, and their collections have grown from Oriental rugs to clothing, embroideries and fabrics from cultures all over the world.
This connoisseurship is fully evident in the 90-piece exhibit, which was shown earlier this year at the New York Historical Society to mark the club’s 75th anniversary. The diverse textiles, dating from the seventh to the 20th centuries, represent handcrafted traditions in Africa, Moorish Spain, the Middle East, Central Asia, India and China.
To make sense of this vast geographic reach, scholar Jon Thompson and curator Sumru Belger Krody organized the exhibit according to broad cultural themes. Missing is information about the Hajji Baba members and their tastes, a curious oversight given the celebratory purpose of the show. One of these collectors was the founder of the Textile Museum, George Hewitt Myers.
In the main gallery, the weavings are divided into designs made by nomads and settled peoples. The more unusual are colorfully patterned bags and blankets woven by tribal groups from sheep’s wool that stood out in drab desert and mountain surroundings.
A scarlet saddle cover from Azerbaijan bears a floral border as ornately patterned as a Persian carpet. A checkerboard fabric from Mali does double duty as a tent divider and a wedding blanket.
Rug weaving may have originated with these wanderers, but it reached its peak in Iran under the Safavid dynasty (1501-1722). After a decline caused by economic and social turmoil, this Iranian rug production picked up in the 1800s with increased Western demand for the patterned carpets. Several of the Iranian designs on display reflect the large sizes and colors made for export.
Turkish carpets, which were popular among Europeans, are followed by designs from the Caucasus to underscore the various styles of Oriental rugs. They include longer-pile carpets from western Azerbaijan in bright reds and greens and more intricate folkloric designs from Central Asia made under the Russian kustar system, which was set up in the 1800s to regulate the production of local handicrafts. (“Kustar” is Russian for “artisan.”)
One of the more interesting sections in the exhibit focuses on carpets and coverings of felt. They were made by moistening, kneading and pounding layers of wool fibers, then cutting the material into shapes and piecing them together like mosaics. Made during the last century, a boldly patterned rug from Kyrgyzstan could be mistaken for a contemporary design.
In addition to carpets, the exhibit includes a section on clothing. Several striking robes from Uzbekistan are made from silk and velvet ikat, a style of weaving using a resist-dyeing process similar to tie-dye on the threads.
In the last galleries, displays of religious textiles and domestic embroidery offer some of the most playful designs in the show. A Tibetan prayer rug emblazoned with a tiger offers a grinning alternative to the animal pelt. A fabric from Uzbekistan is delicately hand-stitched with geometric shapes resembling the cogs of a machine.
It is easy to understand why the Hajji Babas were so drawn to collecting such unusual pieces. That makes it all the more unfortunate that more information about the members and their specific collecting habits isn’t included to explain more fully the value of these exotic textiles.
WHEN YOU GO
WHAT: “Timbuktu to Tibet: Rugs and Textiles of the Hajji Babas”
WHERE: Textile Museum, 2320 S St. NW
WHEN: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, through March 8
ADMISSION: Free; suggested $5 donation
PHONE: 202/667-0441
WEB SITE: www.textile museum.org
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