1800s, Turcoman; Saryk

Bag face, hand knotted woollen pile on woollen warp and weft, Central Asian, 19th century.

WARP: cream wool; Z2S; 19 threads per inch (87 per dm).

WEFT: brown wool; Z2S; 2 shoots after each row of knot, 26 knots per inch (103 per dm).

PILE: wool; 6 colours: dark red, light orange, dark blue, dark brown, brown, white; symmetrical knot tied around 2 warp threads; 247 knots ot the sq. inch (4481 per sq. dm).

SIDE FINISH: Right (as woven): one cord of goat hair (?) oversewn with dark red wool. Left: one cord oversewn with dark red wool.

END FINISH: Lower: 1" (2.5 cms) plain weave; narrow band of flecked red weft after a wider band of dark blue weft. Upper: 2" (1.5 cms) plain weave with cream weft after narrow band of dark blue.

DESIGN: Field: brown ground with four bands of four identical guls, each with a red centre with a dark blue hooked cross; three and two half bands of smaller guls with quartered six-sided centre, each band having three and two half guls.
Main border: dark red ground; the dark blue hooked cross forming the centre of the main gul which alternates with a dark blue diagonal crossed alternately with orange or white.
Inner and outer border: a dark blue ground; in the centre, triangles in dark red, orange and white, flanked by squares of dark red and orange divided by white florets; brown is substituted for the dark blue ground in the lower border.
Lower bands: one band of red ground with dark blue horns and then two bands of multicoloured sprigs on a dark brown ground.
Elem has a dark brown ground with five bands of multicoloured sprigs and then a narrow band of dark blue.


Date catalogued: 24.1.95


TURKOMAN; 19th century


Maximum length: 2'3" (68.5 cms)
Minimum length: 2'12@ (65 cms)
Maximum width: 4'1" (124.5 cms)
Minimum width: 3'9" (114 cms)

WARP: white wool; Z2S; 23 threads per inch (85-90 per dm).

WEFT: brown wool; Z2S; 2 shoots after each row; 22-24 knots per inch (98 per dm).

PILE: wool, silk and cotton ( the silk and cotton are found in the field); 9 colours: dark red, red, light red, dark green, dark blue, dark pink (silk), brown, cream, white (cotton); asymmetrical knot open to the right and tied around 2 threads; 265 knots per sq. inch (4165-4410 per sq. dm).

SIDE FINISH: left hand side incomplete but both sides have 2 cords overcast with red wool.

END FINISH: both cut. The lower has 2A (2 cms) of plainweave with red weft and the remains of 2 shoots of dark blue weft. Upper: maximum 1 cm plainweave with blue weft.

DESIGN: Field: dark red ground with 5 bands of 6 guls lying within a grid. At the centre of each gul is a hexagon, quartered in dark blue and dark red or in dark green and dark pink (silk), which lies on a stepped cross quartered in white (cotton) and red within a dark red lozenge. The diagonal corners of the completed rectangle are in dark green and dark pink (silk) or in dark blue and red with a white, yellow or red floret in each. The red and pink corners are in the bottom left and upper right creating the impression of diagonal bands moving across the bag face in that direction. The inner dorfder and the 5 vertical field dividers are decofated with white and red lozenges outline in dark blue and dark green on a dark red ground. The hoizontal bars and the lower and upper inner dorder have white diamons spaced between interlocking chevrons and the 2 variations are repeated in the
outer borders.

Main border: dark red ground with a row of rectangles each containing an 8-pointed star in dark red or dark blue and white.

Uppermost border: dark red ground with one band of small floral springs in dark blue and and dark green and above that, 2 very narrow blocks of colour in opposing diagonals.

Beyond the side guard stripes is a narrow band of undecorated dark red with forms the ground of the elem.
Elem: decorated with a fine lattice in toothed lines of white/dark green and dark blue and light red and lying over them are 17 barrow bars of diagonal blocks of colours.


Date catalogued: 11.12.96

Purchased for £11 "Camel bag, Pinde Turcoman"

Bags are important household articles for all nomadic people. They are used to transport possessions on pack animals when the community travels and are used for storage and decoration, and as something comfortable to lean against, when the community settles for a while and erects tents. The two sides of a bag, back and front, are called 'faces' and the one at the front is often decorated with knotted pile or with a woven design.
This bag face, probably made by the Saryk tribal group, was deliberately woven so that it is wider along the lower edge to provide ample storage space with a narrower opening to give security.

T.96-1923