The S Meander Border A new day in Turkoman studies

The “S” meander border may hold the key to unlocking some iconographic Turkoman relationships through the ages. Pinner mentions the “S” meanders use on the Marby rug, a 15th century weaving prominently portraying four clear bird forms: each with two crests, in his synopsis on the “S” meander border in Turkoman Studies 1.  I have always thought the Marby rug was woven as homage to earlier Turkoman carpets. It must be admitted that the “S” meander border seen on the Marby rug is quite different from that seen on my Tekke torba and the Tekke Bird asmalyk gracing the cover of Herrmann’s first catalog, VON LOTTON BIS TEKKE. My Tekke torba’s “S” meander border is nearly identical to the one found on Hermann’s Bird Asmalyk.  If the Marby rug is 15th century and Hermann’s and my Tekke weaving’s are late 17th to mid 18th century, as I think they are, what form did the ”S” meander border take during the 16th century?

Below is a picture of a Salor main carpet fragment I believe is from the 16th century.

5tNotice the background color of its minor “S” meander border is apricot. The positive ground “S” forms in blue are easy to see but note that the background of each repeating unit is composed of two opposing segments of a “running dog” border.

Pinner mentions that the Yomud used a variant of the ”S” meander border in some weavings. Below is an example of a Yomud asmalyk utilizing such a variant. I have written an article about this asmalyk, see www.a-bey.com under articles. I date this Yomud asmalyk to the mid 18th century and believe that its’ iconography is fundamental to understanding the unfolding of this specific genre over the subsequent 100 or so years.

Most folks call similar Yomud asmalyks jewelry pieces; for the wedding silver so often portrayed along their superior margins.  For many years I have been saying that the main gull quarters of old Tekke torbas portray sacred bird forms in their negative spaces.

Below is a close-up of my Tekke torba with “S”meander border. Look in the lower right hand quarter of the main gull. Suppress your natural tendency to only see colored ‘objects’ and notice that the white ground image forms a bird with two crests and/or two feet, an elongated body with a quartered “HEART” box, and a big fancy tail. The Marby rug’s birds have central triangles representing their hearts, I suppose, while later Tekke bird forms have quartered boxes serving the same visual purpose.  I feel that there is a direct line of descent between the Marby rug and all later Tekke and Salor weavings. The Marby rug is an Oguz weaving, in my opinion, and I also suspect that the Marby rug is late 14th century and not a 15th century weaving. 

I have been writing this thread on the fly, so to speak; but I suspect that what I have started here will eventually lead to a much better understanding of Turkoman weavings through the centuries.   Jim Allen

Thanks and best wishes,

J. Barry O'Connell Jr.