Turcoman

Carpet, hand knotted woollen pile on woollen warp and weft, Central Asian, Turkoman, 19th century

WARP: grey wool; Z2S; 14 threads per inch (60 per dm).

WEFT: light red wool; Z-spun, unplied; 2 shoots after each row of knots; 12 knots per inch (50 per dm).

PILE: wool; 9 colours: orange, yellow, dark green, green, blue, light blue, dark pink, dark brown, white; asymmetrical knot open to the right tied around 2 threads; 84 knots per sq. inch (1500 per dm).

SIDE FINISH: 3 cords overcast with brown wool.

END FINISH: Lower: 6" (15 cms) plain weave in bands of dark pink, blue, orange, dark green and white. Upper: 52" (14 cms) of bands with the same colours. Both ends have warp fringe with one row of knots.

DESIGN: Field: dark pink ground divided into a lattice with star-like guls. There are 2 rows of 7 of these, 6 pairs have a rosette within an octagon, the lowest pair have a stepped diamond, not a rosette and there are other design inconsistencies in this area. The 6 pairs have outlined in yellow or white which extend as bars ending in a pair of horns horizontally and almost touching vertically, giving the appearance of a grid. The green and blue 'lattice' which crosses beneath the guls is infact two rows of double zigzags enclosing green or blue triangles surrounded by small 3-pronged motifs in yellow and blue or white and green. In the lowest quarter of the carpet, where green is used in place of dark green, it would seem that the weavers had yet to determine the precise design. At the top of the field are two bands of 16 squares, each halved by stepped diagonal lines.
Main border: white ground with a dark brown central line on which are placed multi-coloured rosettes.
Inner and outer borders: diagonal blocks of colour which, half way along on the inner border, become interlocking Y-motifs. A few of these appear in the right hand outer border.

Date catalogued: 10.7.96

Mentioned in "Turkoman Rugs in the V & A", by M. Franses and R. Pinner (intro. by Donald King). Hali 1980, Vol.2, No. 4, p. 302, 311

Rather than use an obvious square grid, the designer of this carpet has combined it with diagonal subdivisions which form diamonds and triangles and help to conceal the simple nature of the pattern. At the top of the field the pattern suddenly changes and becomes two rows of diagonally halved squares, rather like cracked egg shells.

0730(IS)