#ghashghai

Ghashghai women perform the traditional 'napkin dance' during a wedding in Firozabad, Fars, Iran, on May 7, 2009.

Left: Qashqai “Rosette Rug”, 4’ 4” x 6’, 3rd quarter, 19th century.

Right: Qashqai girl with newborn lamb.

Left: Qashqai Kashkuli, 5’ x 6’ 6”, circa 1850.

Right: Qashqai woman in traditional dress, consisting of a tunic with long sleeves and side slits open to the waist that allows numerous frilly petticoats to billow.

Left: Qashqai woman deftly spinning lanolin-oily wool in preparation for her next carpet.

Right: Qashqai carpet, 5’ 6” x 10’, 3rd quarter, 19th century.

Left: At almost two centuries old this Khan’s carpet offers a rare window into the earlier aesthetic sensibility of the Qashqai tribe.

Right: Qashqai man drinking tea. The ceramic tea pots and fragile cups are stored in velvet-lined compartment boxes constructed so that each piece can travel safely during migration.

Left: Qashqai “Cane Rug” – 5’ 3” x 9’ 4″, 3rd quarter, 19th century.

Right: Qashqai weaver sitting on a horizontal loom with months of her weaving behind her.

Ghashghai wedding in Firozabad, Fars, Iran, on May 7, 2009.

Wedding guests gather around the bride, Zohre, during a Ghashghai wedding in Firozabad, Fars, Iran, on May 7, 2009. Weddings among the Ghashghai nomads follow ancestral customs, including multi-day celebrations, tribal blessings, and a dowry procession, where the bride's belongings are ceremonially moved to her new home.

Ghashghai women perform the traditional 'napkin dance' during a wedding in Firozabad, Fars, Iran, on May 7, 2009. This dance, where participants wave colorful handkerchiefs while moving in a circle, is a distinctive feature of Ghashghai weddings.