The bags in the exhibition Portable Storage were woven as containers to transport or store everyday items, such as bedding, flour, salt, and the wooden spindles that were used to make the woolen yarns from which these works were woven.

The variety of types of bags illustrates the nomadic lifestyle as well as the degree of specialization attained by the nomadic craftswomen. Many examples employ an ingenious system of slits and inter-locking loops, a kind of proto-zipper, that allowed the halves of the double bag to be securely closed.

Khorjin or Heybe

​Double saddlebag (Khorjin), ca. 1900. Northwestern Iran or Azerbaijan, Shahsevan tribe. Wool (warp and sumak weft), cotton (ground weft), and goat(?) hair (sumak weft); sumak extra-weft wrapping and slit tapestry (kilim) closure (front); weft-faced plain weave with pattern in supplementary brocaded weft (back), 52 x 20 in. (132.1 x 50.8 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Inger G. and William B. Ginsberg, 2015 (2015.490.43)

The most notable and ubiquitous of the bags is the "double saddlebag," known as a khorjin in Iran and a heybe in Turkey. Double saddlebags are found throughout the Middle East, from Anatolia to Central Asia, and were woven in a variety of sizes. They are the equivalent of backpacks, briefcases, and purses, and were used to hold anything from jewelry to clothing.

Flour Bag

Double flour bag, last quarter 19th century. Western Iran, Bakhtiari tribe. Wool (warp, sumak weft, and pile), cotton (ground weft), and goat(?) hair (braided loops); weft-faced plain weave with pattern in sumak extra-weft wrapping (front); symmetrically knotted pile (top and bottom edges); weft-faced plain weave with pattern in sumak extra-weft wrapping and twined and braided loop closures (back), 40 1/2 x 56 in. (102.9 x 142.2 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Inger G. and William B. Ginsberg, 2015 (2015.490.13)

The double flour bags created by Bakhtiari weavers are carried over the backs of pack animals. They almost always include tightly woven sumak brocading (to keep the flour from leaking out) and reinforcement, in the form of pile weave, at points of extreme wear on the bottoms and bottom corners.

Salt Bag

Left: Salt bag (front); Right: Salt bag (back), ca. 1920. Western Iran, Bakhtiari tribe. Wool (warp, ground weft, sumak weft, and pile), cotton (white sumak weft and white pile), and goat(?) hair (side finishes); sumak extra-weft wrapping (front); symmetrically knotted pile (bottom edge); weft-faced plain weave with pattern in sumak extra-weft wrapping (back); wrapped warp tassels, 21 x 19 in. (53.3 x 48.3 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Inger G. and William B. Ginsberg, 2015 (2015.490.7)

Shaped like a narrow-necked bottle, these small bags were originally used by shepherds to carry salt, a necessary item in the diet of grazing animals, which often could not be obtained from grass alone.

Bedding Bag

Bedding bag, ca. 1825–75. Northwestern Iran or Azerbaijan, Shahsevan tribe. Wool (warp, ground weft, and sumak weft), cotton (white sumak weft), and goat(?) hair (loops); ​sumak extra-weft wrapping (sides); weft-faced plain weave (bottom and sides), H. 20 x W. 41 x D. 19 in. (50.8 x 104.1 x 48.3 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Inger G. and William B. Ginsberg, 2015 (2015.490.23)

This unusual bag, woven by the Shahsevan tribe, is a bedding bag. Once misidentified as children's cradles, these bags represent the unbreakable and lightweight nomadic equivalent of an old-fashioned steamer trunk, suitable for holding quilts, blankets, and other bedding. Composed of four decorated panels (two long sides and two square ends), usually in sumak extra-weft wrapping, with a weft-faced plain-weave bottom, these box-like bags were used to carry light but bulky bedding and other textile items. When the nomads who used these bags were encamped in their tents, the bedding that the bags contained could be removed from the bags and the bag hung on the walls of the tent.

The field design includes a central band of connected white hexagons alternating with half-hexagons. The red cruciform motif on the white cotton ground in the hexagons contributes to the striking appearance of the field. Yellow guard stripes with stylized tendrils separate the main band from the upper and lower secondary bands of rotated cloud-collar patterns.

Bedding bags were frequently deconstructed and their individual panels sold separately in the carpet market.

Spindle Bag

Spindle bag, ca. 1935. Western Iran, Bakhtiari tribe. Wool (warp, sumak weft, pile, and tassels), cotton (ground weft and tassels), goat(?) hair (side finishes and tassels), metal rings, braided strap, and faience beads (tassels); weft-faced plain weave with pattern in sumak extra-weft wrapping (front and back); symmetrically knotted pile (bottom edge), 20 1/2 x 12 3/4 in. (52.1 x 32.4 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Inger G. and William B. Ginsberg, 2015 (2015.490.5)

A good example of the degree of specialization attained by nomadic designers of portable storage is this deceptively simple rectangular bag, designed to hold the wooden spindles used to make the yarns employed in weaving. Like the flour bags, the spindle bag has pile weave across the bottom at the place of maximum wear, a characteristic of bags woven by the Bakhtiari women. The turquoise-blue beads and tassel ornamentation served a protective function of a different kind, warding off the "evil eye" of envious malign spirits.

Saddle Cover

Saddle cover, last quarter 19th century. Western Iran. Wool (warp, ground weft, and pile); symmetrically knotted pile, 29 x 44 in. (73.7 x 111.8 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Inger G. and William B. Ginsberg, 2015 (2015.490.1)

Elaborate caparisons for horses and camels are an essential part of almost every nomadic art tradition. Saddle covers were designed to cover leather saddles, often with a semi-circular slit in the back for the cantle or raised rear flange of the saddle, and with a short vertical slit in the front for the pommel. Some examples, like the one shown here, also had side panels to cushion the rider's thighs against the sides of the horse.

Authors: Deniz Beyazit, Associate Curator, Department of Islamic Art, and Walter B. Denny, Distinguished Professor, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. © 2017 The Metropolitan Museum of Art