first half 19th century, 82 x 111 cm, Central Asia, West Turkestan

The brown-red field contains nine large primary güls of the chuval type. The secondary güls are white or yellow diamonds quartered by inner diagonals, with light red outlines and double hooks at their tips. Four of them are rendered as complete motifs while a further twelve are cut by the border. The elem is undecorated. – Tsareva surmised that this large tent bag was a weaving by the Igdyr tribe. However, nowadays it is thought more likely that it was woven by the Abdal, a different Yomut sub-group. An almost identical example was exhibited in Hamburg in 1993. It only differs in the design of its secondary borders. The rare design of the white-ground main border is an unmistakeable feature of Abdal rugs. It is also encountered in one of the tribe’s main carpets published by Mackie/Thompson. – Slight signs of age and wear, somewhat sinuous, no kilim back. Provenance: Estate of Peter Hoffmeister

HAMBURGISCHES MUSEUM FÜR VÖLKERKUNDE (publ.), Wie Blumen in der Wüste. Die Kultur der turkmenischen Nomadenstämme Zentralasiens. Hamburg 1993, no. 60 *** MACKIE, LOUISE & THOMPSON, JON, Turkmen. Tribal Carpets and Traditions. Washington 1980, no. 68 *** RIPPON BOSWELL, A 66, 20 May 2006, lot 42

TSAREVA, ELENA, Turkmen Carpets. Masterpieces of Steppe Art, from 16th to 19th Centuries. The Hoffmeister Collection. Stuttgart 2011, no. 102