Here's another thing that gets me. Even one of my favorite ebay sellers uses the term Afghanistan/Pakistan as the country of origin for some of their rugs. Now, contrary to the plans and fantasies of certain groups and individuals, Afghanistan and Pakistan are NOT the same place, and to my mind they are radically different places in many fundamental ways, particularly as it comes to rug manufacture, Afghan immigrants in Pakistan notwithstanding. I am Norweigian. If I make a traditional Norwegian style rug here in the US, this is not a "Norwegian" rug because it has not been produced within the environment whose collective elelements produce what is thought of as a "Norwegian" rug. The same goes for rug factories in Pakistan who employ vast numbers of starving Afghan immigrants. I will occassionally buy Pakistani rugs, but they are separate in my mind and in my descriptions from rugs produced in Afghanistan. And I am also descriptive in the differentiation of these two stories to potential buyers. Am I being anal about this?

If his inventory of rugs are purchased at a local bazaar, they could be from anywhere. Telling the difference between an afghan chobi and peshawar from pakistan is very difficult.>>>>

Yeah, makes sense. And I guess that softens the angle of my nose somewhat.

http://tinyurl.com/6ccuc6

Here is something interesting and related I happened on today.

I should add that my understanding of the lack of finishing facilities is from a brief conversation in Jan 2007 at the Atlanta market rather than from either of those sites, which are still somewhat barebone.

I also believe many rugs woven in pakistan are also made by afghans >>>>

Right, refugees. The article I posted also talked about the changes in style and process that the refugees learn in Pakistan and then take back to Afghanistan when they return home, changing the traditional styles forever. This is normal, and has certainly happened before with tribal mixing and new techniques shared, whether it is now or a thousand years ago. And I must acknowledge the idiocy of sitting here (for me) tut-tutting over some fetishistic perception of purity when these people are fighting for survival and losing more often than not. My comments and observations are purely theoretical.