I have this rug that my ex wife sent me from Afghanistan in 2007 when she was deployed with the 218th MP NG unit out of SC.

One of her favorite places that they patrolled was a little bazaar, market or whatever , and outside one. There was a family  there that made these rugs, and they were really good people, and she liked them and enjoyed going through their area when they were on patrol there. She purchased several rugs from them. I am, unfortunately in a financial position where I am going to need to sell this rug. I won't be selling it here, but I would like to know, if anyone has a clue as to what the rug is, tribal, whatever, and a possible value range. I know a lot of you guy/gals served, and have these as well.

It is hand made, and I used to have the pics of the family making them, and this rug being made. This was actually a Christmas gift to me from her that year.

I have lost the photos, they were on a hard drive and the old pooter crashed. I do not want to contact her for reasons relating to our relationship, and she remarried,  but I may contact one of her brothers about getting the photos to me for documentation.

If any of you have a clue or a suggestion let me know. Thank you..

Again, this is not a sales ad or anything, but just needing an idea of value, I have several people in my town wanting it, but I don't know what to charge.

Thanks







I messed up on this shot and had my calipers at .900 instead of 1.000 inches, so you will have to add a few thread counts.

The rug has never been hung up, or put on the floor. It has been folded and inside a cedar chest since 2007.

That's very beautiful.  I have no idea how much it's worth, or how to find out.
 

Probably made in China...No lie

it depends.. is it covered in anthrax?
 

Price it according to what the people wanting to buy will pay for it. Tell them to give you a price. Sell for the best price. YMMV.

I picked some up a while back. They run $40-$60, there produced mainly for soldiers to make impulse buys. They are made in country and are made by hand but they produce thousands and thousands of those things. I've got a nice blue one somewhere.

Older and higher quality rugs can be worth more but its a limited market flooded with bring backs and imports from china.

Take it to an oriental rug shop here domestically and tell them where it came from. There's no real way to even give a ballpark estimate without seeing it in person, the way the light works on it, and the way it feels.

I bought an Afghan rug of my own in Herat, a six meter khoja roshnai, and the variation in price depending on the quality of the wool, the tightness of the knots, etc. was pretty broad.

Does it fly or have other mystical qualities?

I don't know it will be valued for all that much. Its more of a neat story type thing. I'd guess $40-$100 if you can find someone who wants it.

Depends.

Does your state have medical green?

a lot of it is determined by number of points and material.

wool + high number of points = expensive.

They had awesome rugs in Iraq. I wish I'd of got one.

Looks like a Nain.  Maybe 2x3 or 3x5 in size?  Any signatures (prob in the ctr of the border, where your hand/arm is covering in the photo)?  Is  it wool on a cotton base (check the fringes), perhaps w/ silk highlights (look for small design elements, perhaps in the medallion or flowers, probably white and shiny)?

As Twisted and Jarhead mention, how are the knots?  Do you have any photos of the back, pref w/ a ruler?  I.e. how many knots per sq inch or linear cm?

As Jarhead mentions, you'd really need to have it appraised or at least see what stores are asking for a similar product.  A Bokhara (completely different style) that size is maybe worth $100 give or take, but a Nain should be worth more, at least to an educated buyer (and assuming it doesn't turn out to be a Chinese copy).  Beyond that, I hesitate to try to estimate or guess w/o more info/photos.

BTW:  Roll, do not fold.  Folding is ok for short periods (when you have to mail it, etc) and there are better and worse ways to do it...but it's not how you really want to store it...looks like you're getting some creasing.  If you're lucky, it isn't permanent.  Good thinking w/ the cedar, though.  I can give you more care tips if you're interested.

[Goes back to read the thread again.]

ETAs:
Hmm, if it was made by the family there in the market in Afgh, then it's probably not really a Nain.  Ref also Tailo's and others' posts about copies, impulse buys, making things specifically for soldiers to buy, what they paid, flooding the market, and the price being partly dependent on finding a buyer.

Looking at the photo again, it looks like there might not be a signature, but my questions stands if you were accidentally covering a small one.

As a note, green is a slightly unusual color for Nains.  Not unheard of by any means, but most are white/cream/tan/brown/dk blue.  If it's not a copy, that might make it worth a little bit more, or at least make it sell when another one wouldn't.

Also, not sure if the edge between the body and the fringe looks right or if it's just the photo.  Can you provide a closeup?

Ref Jarhead's qn about the light...does it have a dark side and a light side?  Set it on the floor, maybe in the sunlight, and look at it from one of the long ends.  Then walk around and look at it from the other long end.

The ex wife brought back a bunch of them. She did bring back a very, very old one, slightly worn, well more than slightly, that was huge. It was from the 30stwo or 40sthe I believe, gave it to her parents. It was expensive, weighed a ton. It was probably ten feet across. This one is a two by three it looks like. Haven't measured it. She did watch them make most of it.

To the flying question. I have a half gallon of gas that I'm using to burn trash. I might fill it up and try to crank it.

36, do you have an instruction manual for the little one? Just need to know if it's a push button start or a kicker, and do I need to mix the oil with the gas?

I'll give you a goat for it.
Jim

Notice he didn't say it's a virgin goat.

Ah, but I can get a goat. Free.

Anyway, there is a name on it, looks like stitched in maybe very finely on the back corner, and across from it is another piece of script in that I can't read but it is larger. I will try and get photos of them.

Also, I did roll it up, thank you for the advice.

Cool.  It looks nice (the birds are a nice touch), it's too bad either that you can't keep it, that it's probably not really a Nain, or that the economy is bad.  I'll check back later if I can help more.

BTW, is the medallion centred?  The crease makes it look like maybe it's not.  That would affect it's value.  (Other updates in my previous, if you didn't see them.)

Never seen a virgin goat

Did you have a ND into your wrist?

I had a huge rug that I was going to bring back from Iraq in one of the houses we took over....couldn't find a box or makeshift box to fit it in.

OP has the stigmata.



 

No need to mix oil with gas just TOKE UP.

What you have there looks like a 2ft x 4 ft Persian Tabriz.

If it was sitting here in my shop , I would sell it for about $200-$250.

I seriously doubt it is Afgan , they are usually more primitive and geometric in design.
You say you have photos to the contrary , and that is fine, I could be wrong.

I have been buying ,selling and trading rugs my whole life. Our family business has been here in Richmond VA for 50 years.

Our website is  http://www.amirrugexchange.com we are one of the biggest.

I give most returning service members a free appraisal for bring back rugs,and we donate a nice rug yearly to the Wounded Warrior Foundation.
Its the least I can do.

1 vote here for Kashmir so far.
 

You have some beautiful merchandise on your website.

+1.  I may have to come by some time when I'm in the area.

That's my son's wrist. He got bit by a spider or something the other day and it got infected. It's ok now, healing up.

The wife was a military police officer ( they called her Tomb Raider because she looked like Angelina), and one of the villages she patrolled frequently on foot  had that market in it. There was a family that made the rugs right there on the spot. The photos I had show them hanging in various stages of progress. It was a man,  his wife, and at least two kids. She actually watched them working on the rugs, and on that one as well. I will get picks of the back side of the rug in a while.

I will offer you the use of my goat for 20min.

Depends on knots per inch, wool quality, dye quality and size.  I would imagine a rug that size was made specifically as a novelty given its size.  Worth $100 tops if it is a high quality weave, probably closer to $50.  I have a persian rug that is 3 x 4 meters and 90 knots per inch.  Not super high quality, but not bazaar quality either.  Probably worth around $2,500-3,000.  The older, high density rugs are worth a small fortune.

Keep it as a souvenir and hang it on the wall.  It may be worth alot someday when they don't make them anymore.

Standard prayer rug, made in China. Possibly a holdover from Desert Storm. The locals imported them by the truckload to sell to GI's for souverniers.

Value = worthless, sorry.

Show us a photo of the back. (Underside)

Updated with photos in OP.

Bump for the weekend crowd. Hoping the guys that know about these things are on here since I put the pics of the back of it up a few days ago.

I really need to get a good idea on the value. I need to sell it to help pay my property taxes. Mods I hope this is ok because I'm not putting it in the EE or selling on this site. I have a few people local that are looking at it, but they don't know what to offer, and I don't know what to ask. They are friends in town and neither of us wants to sucker the other even by accident.

Thanks.

One more bump, since I've posted the pics of the signatures or writing or whatever they are, and the closeup for the count per inch.

Thanks to the respondents.

I need to sell this thing now, so I'm gonna put it on my FB page for about $200 OBO unless someone says that it's too high or too low.

I'm not listing it for sale here, so I hope that the statement above isn't seen as a sales tactic. I just want to be sure that I am in the right range so that both parties are happy.

Thanks

I would sell it to a buddy for the amount of $$ you need, then buy it back when possible.

Lol, all my buddies are broke too. lol