NewsletterAutumn14a

THE NOMADS NEWS
Autumn 2014
The Nomads Tent, 21 St Leonard’s Lane, Edinburgh, EH8 9SH
0131 662 1612 www.nomadstent.co.uk [email protected]
Opening times: Mon-Sat 10-5, Sun 12-4
Story of a Qashqai rug
by Andrew Haughton
One day in July 2012 two of us from the Nomads
Tent made a delivery to some customers who
had recently moved home. As we were leaving
they offered us a bundle of very worn rugs which
we spread out when we got back to the Nomads
Tent. One of them was outstanding, and we were
intrigued by its origins.
I discussed with various specialists where it might
have come from, and to learn more we went back
to our customer who told us that the carpet had
been collected by his grandfather Robert Murdoch
Smith – one of the most important buyers of
Persian art for the Victoria and Albert Museum
and the Chambers Street Museum.
Robert Murdoch Smith (1835 to 1900) was born
and educated in Scotland. He joined the Royal
Engineers in 1855, and in 1865 was appointed
Director of the Persian Telegraph by the British
Government. Murdoch Smith was a man of
considerable learning in the arts. In the course
of his official duties in Persia, he recognised an
opportunity to source interesting and unusual
items for British museums. In 1873 he was
commissioned by the Victoria and Albert Museum
to make contacts with Persian dealers to obtain
arts and crafts, thus laying the foundation of the
Persian collection at the Victoria & Albert Museum.
Murdoch Smith’s work for the V&A ran for over
20 years, led to a major exhibition of Persian art
and craft at the museum in 1876. This exhibition
marked the beginning of great interest in Middle
Eastern art and culture, coinciding with a huge
surge in carpet and rug weaving in Persia and
exports to the west.
Murdoch Smith retired to Edinburgh where
he became the director of the then Edinburgh
Museum of Science and Art in 1885. He died in
Edinburgh in 1900. Compared to the treasures he
secured, this Qashqai rug is a modest item, but it
is one with great local significance.
We had established the provenance of the rug
with generous help from the sellers and from
Friederike Voigt, senior curator of Middle East and
South Asian collections at the National Museum
of Scotland. We came to understand the rug was
made by the Qashqai tribal weavers in SW Persia;
we tracked down a very similar Qashqai rug in the
de Young museum in San Francisco which is in
better condition than the Murdoch Smith Qashqai
but it is in similar colours and design.
This Qashqai rug which was in the hands of Robert
Murdoch Smith 130 years ago, and passed down
through his family, finally became part of the
collection of the National Museum in Edinburgh in
May this year. I think you could say that this lovely
rug has finally come home.
Jagdish Banga by Rufus Reade
I was wandering around my favourite shop in Delhi,
Fabindia, when I learnt that the person responsible
for making Fabindia’s durries was visiting. I had
never come across such well made wool durries. I
was taken backstage to meet Jagdish. He was a softly
spoken man, wearing a sleeveless Nehru waistcoat. I
threw down the gauntlet not expecting it to be picked
up: “Could you weave me durries of handspun wool
dyed with vegetable dyes.” I expected him to say ‘of
course not’ but instead he said “It’s wonderful to meet
someone who appreciates natural dyeing, and yes of
course I can have durries made for you: would you like
to place a small sample order now?” I wasn’t prepared
for his reply but I promised to get in touch with some
designs, and so we parted.
It took me six months before I got round to
placing a small order. It wasn’t long before a rather
unceremonious roll of durries arrived. Nothing on the
parcel indicated just how precious this cargo was: as
we laid out the durries we realised we were looking at
stunning quality. I phoned Jagdish up in Delhi, full of
enthusiasm, and placed a second order. We began to
experiment with unconventional sizes, stair runners
and private commissions.
A visit to Jagdish’s workshop
I decided that on my next visit to India I should visit
his workshop. We drove out of Delhi, leaving the
main road to follow minor farm roads, crossing canals
before we reached a poor suburb. His driver pulled
up in front of an iron gate and hooted. The gate was
rapidly opened and we drove into a compound. As I
got out of the car in the unyielding heat I could see
rows of newly dyed wool hanks drying: the reds and
blues shouting out triumphantly! The main weaving
shed lay on the left. Here 6 men were weaving at iron
looms. Jagdish explained that unlike wooden looms,
iron looms have no give, the bars do not flex so that
the weaving can be made to a greater tension which
helps make these durries very hard wearing and flat.
We walked around looking at where the dyeing was
done: I felt I need to ask difficult questions. How
much were his weavers paid? What
did Jagdish think of
the organisations which go round checking that
workshops are not using child labour? The Nomads
Tent is too small to make organisations follow our
ethics so we have to find suppliers whose ethics we are
comfortable with. I quite quickly found that Jagdish’s
answers weren’t ones I had anticipated! For example
he said he paid above the usual rate for weavers, and
that he insisted they be paid reliably every Thursday. I
realised by being with this man that I simply liked him:
I observed how he treated his staff, his earnest way of
crouching down on his haunches to look at a weaver’s
work, his quiet manner, his sense of being level with me.
The outstanding quality of work meant that in addition
to our orders we were happy to receive and pay for
experiments! Just occasionally there were failures, and
sometimes they were our mistakes - my design for a 3D
cat on a mat for instance.
Secret recipes in Turkey
Jagdish and I made a trip to Turkey where I introduced
him to my good friend Mehmet Ucar, kilim maker
and master dyer in Konya. We travelled round to see
Mehmet’s production, his dyeing house, his village,
discussing yarn, and colour and what makes a good
design. Jagdish asked Mehmet how he made an
aubergine colour. Mehmet put on that face which tells
you that you are asking for a secret to be revealed: he
refused to say anything. Mehmet went on playing hard
to get until our last day when he said to Jagdish “Rufus
told me the recipe!” I had forgotten that I had found the
recipe for him in the UK where our craft guilds share
and publish knowledge rather than make secret and
withhold such recipes. We all had a good laugh!
8 years ago I was surprised to get a phone call from
Jagdish’s brother-in- law, who broke the news, “Jagdish
has retired with immediate effect due to ill health and
we are winding up the business”. Since then, Jagdish
has been suffering from Hepatitis C whose treatment
with Interferon is as awful, leaving patients limp and
seriously depressed. In late July 2014 he died. I wept
to think of a good friend who was to be spared more
suffering.
The good news is that Jagdish’s foreman is now running
his own workshop, and once again we are getting these
brilliantly made ‘Indian kilims’. We are thrilled with
quality, but we have lost a lovely friend.
We are thrilled
to announce
that our ‘Syria in
Focus’ event in
March this year
raised £23,747
for Mercy Corps!
We could not
have done this
without the
huge support
and generosity
of you, our
customers.
Thank you!’
Jamshed Ghumman 1959-2014 by Robert Jordan
Jamshed - or Jami as he was known by his friends in the Nomad’s
Tent – was a visitor to the shop over many years, on a virtually daily
basis. Regular customers will almost certainly have encountered his
eccentric outfits, especially the hats, and his gregarious presence.
He had the knack of turning up at tea breaks and often made the
tea for the staff, who increasingly began to see him as an honorary
colleague as well as a friend. He was willing to help with the heavy
lifting, taking a pride in his contribution.
Jami was a long term resident of the St Leonards area and due to
severe and enduring mental health problems he depended a lot
on the community for acceptance and support. Happily this was
something that the community was able to give and the Nomads
Tent played a considerable part in this enterprise. So much so that
Jami sometimes forgot that it was selling rugs and not providing a
drop-in service that was the shop’s primary function. Along with other local businesses and individuals,
the Nomad’s Tent offered Jami a role and a place in the community which made a significant difference
to his life. His death reminded all of us that he had also played a role in bringing the community together.
An avid social networker, he had helped neighbours talk to each other in a way that they might not
otherwise have done.
Jami died suddenly and unexpectedly of a heart attack in February. Present and former staff from the
Nomad’s Tent attended his funeral and were deeply saddened by his loss. As Jamshed’s carer I know
how much the support of the local community meant to him and it was gratifying to see community
care in action, as well as seeing a local business playing a real role in the life of the local community.