KARADASHLI MAIN CARPET 297 x 176 cm (9ft. 9in. x 5ft. 9in.) Turkmenistan, mid-19th century Condition: good, a few small repairs, a few signs of use Warp: wool, weft: wool, pile: wool.

Karadashli carpets with tauk nuska guls typically have three rows of this motive which roughly translates into 'cockerel motive'. Jürg Rageth in Turkmen Carpets connects the design to early Persian silks in which animals are shown either singly or confronting each other. Sometimes mirrored over the central axis and showing four animals, these might easily have entered the Turkmen weaving repertoire. It is interesting to note in our example how the weaver changed the secondary gul from the third row onwards adding four red blocks and giving it a more classical look. At the start these sit closer to the main gul than to the secondary but from the fifth row, they are centred around the secondary gul. In the alem are abstract flowers which Rageth convincingly connects with flower depictions in Mogul and Safavid weavings.