Description

Beautiful Turkoman rug in a squarish size made by a member of the Tekke tribe towards the end of the 19th century.

These rugs are often erroneously called “Bokhara”, which is a misnomer since Bokhara is merely the place where they were traded but is no precise indication of their origin. It is always more appropriate to ascribe tribal rugs to the tribe in which they were made rather than a trading place, especially given the fact that these tribes often covered large distances during migration.

Our example is a commercial variant of a wedding rug, which was always small and of fairly square size and was an important part of the dowry. It has a field design of three columns of five main Tekke guls (gul meaning “flower” in the Turkic languages) which are connected through straight lines. The ensuing gaps are taken up by secondary guls with a flower in the rectangular centre. This is classic Turkoman design.

The quality of the wool and of the dyes (the red is based on the madder root) is superb.

The rug is in full pile and in excellent condition, including the original kelim ends.

SOLD