Guide to Saryk Turkmen Rugs & Carpets
Phases of Saryk Rugs
The Saryk are one of the original 23 tribes of the Oghuz.
In the early 19th century they defeated the Salor and for
a short period of time were the preeminent Turkmen tribe
until losing to the Tekke.
Saryk rugs fall into three phases:
- First phase has a soft clear orange red as the
field color no silk or cotton pile Turkish knots
and a soft apricot color in the Gul.
- Second Phase rugs often use silk and cotton in
the pile, insect dyes and the main field red
tends more to a blue or a brown red than the
orange red of the first phase. Gul quadrants use
a color more orange than the apricot of the First
Phase rugs. Both Turkish and Persian knotting are
seen in Second Phase.
- Third Phase: Colors are darker and brown and
purple brown are seen as field colors. At worst
there is garish overuse of insect dyed silk and
cotton as white. Rugs use Turkish knots.
I wrote this ages ago and now I
am reconsidering. Not that I think I was wrong
but rather that as I come to understand Saryk
history I may be able to go a little deeper. I am
thinking that First Phase is from the period
before the ascension of the Tekke over the Saryk.
Does this go back into the period when the Saryk
were un the Salor Confederation? Possibly I see
no reason why not but no compelling argument for
this.
Second Phase then would be from the ascension
of the Akhal Tekke south of the KaraKum up to
about the time when the Russians too the Murghab
River region and the Merv Oasis.
Third Phase would then stretch from the
Russian period forward to today. I will refine
this as I go along but I suspect that this is
abut right.
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First phase has a soft clear orange red as
the field color no silk or cotton pile Turkish
knots and a soft apricot color in the Gul. |
The Thompson Saryk Turret Gul
Juval
2. Second Phase rugs often use silk and cotton in the
pile, insect dyes and the main field red tends more to a
blue or a brown red than the orange red of the first
phase. Gul quadrants use a color more orange than the
apricot of the First Phase rugs. Both Turkish and Persian
knotting are seen in Second Phase.
Saryk 3rd Phase Rug
3. Third Phase: Colors are darker and brown and purple
brown are seen as field colors. At worst there is garish
overuse of insect dyed silk and cotton as white. Rugs use
Turkish knots.
Thoughts on the decline of Saryk Weaving in the Third Phase
When the Tekke drove the Saryk out of the Merv Oasis the Saryk moved south
under the protection of the Jamshidi who controlled the area north of Heart for
the governor of Heart. The area was Choi north of Badghis between the Hari-rud
and the Murghab River. Choi mean desert rut not sand
desert, Choi was an area suitable for herding but not nearly as fertile as
the land the Jamshidi lived on. This allowed the Saryk to flee “south of the
border” so to speak and gave the additional safeguard of being under the
protection of the government of Herat
which was under the authority of the King of Kabul and his British allies. This
was potent protection since the British came in and exerted their authority
over Herat in 1855-56.
Moving to Choi was a drastic change for the Saryk.
Besides Farming and herding the Saryk gained wealth by slaving and weaving. The
Russians and the British effectively ended the slaving. Weaving dramatically decreased
in importance but the nature of living in Choi. The Treaty of Paris 1856 which
ended the Afghan-Persian War severely curtailed trade between Afghanistan and Persia. Without the Persian market
and separated from the Central Asian markets by their enemy the Tekke, weaving
for commerce declined drastically. Additionally without the rich farms of Merv
and the income from slaving the Saryk were not in a position for extravagant
weaving for personal useFrom
all this we see the decline of the Saryk Weaving from the earlier
heights to the dark coarse rugs that I call the Third Phase.
Saryk Torba
Saryk Weaving:
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Turkmenistan, Afghanistan,
and the Iran. Mostly Turkmenistan.
Size: Bags rugs and carpets.
Structure: 1st and 3rd phase
Symmetrical knot.2nd phase may be Asymmetric open
left. 100 to 250 KPSI. No depression to slight
warp depression in older rugs and deeper
depression increasing to deep der on very late
rugs.
Knots Per Square Inch.
Densities recorded were 108 (Lot 123),
112 (Grote-Hasenbalg, Plate 85, est.),
162 (Jones/Schürmann), 200-250 (Thacher
but probably 125), 134 (Herrmann VI), 135
(Lot 133), and 144 (Franses). O'Bannon,
The Saryq Main Carpet.
"Saryk weavings the
vertical to horizontal (knot) ratio is
1:1.5-2.0" O'Bannon , A White
Central Asian Asmalyk of a Rare Type
George
O'Bannon wrote: "There are two
implied assumptions which present
problems in assessing these rugs. The
first is: if they are Turkish knotted,
they are Saryk. We know from past and
current production that the Yomud
Turkoman tribal groups used both the
Turkish and Persian knots. The Saryk
Turkomans in Afghanistan today weave rugs
with both types of knots. They probably
did so in the past."
http://www.rugreview.com/82saryq.htm
Yarn & Pile: Z Spun wool
Cotton and Silk. The
oldest rugs are believed to have neither.
Silk and, occasionally, cotton are found
in mid-century weavings. Their use
increases dramatically late in the
century and in early 20th century rugs.
Neither are common in mid-20th century
Saryq rugs from Afghanistan. O'Bannon,
The Saryq Main Carpet.
Warp: Two ply wool
Weft: 2 shots gray, brown or
ivory wefts (Black in late 3rd phase)
Pile: 2 wool singles.
Ends: Most often weft faced plain
weave.
Selvages: Attached Interlaced
selvage with free floating warps. Mallett,
Marla. Woven Structures 15: 40
Handle: Light - medium. later
rugs get a progressively heavier handle as warp
depression increases.
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| Two Rippon Boswell
Saryk Yolami Fragment |
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.
Turreted Guls:
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Turreted Gul pieces were originally
attributed to the Salor but as Rug scholarship
advanced it became obvious that turreted Gul were
attributable to the Salor, the Saryk, and to the
Tekke. It has been suggested that Saryk only
started weaving them after they defeated the
Salor but Turkmen Expert James Allen
feels that while rare there are Turreted Gul
Sariks in all three phases and that the Saryks
have always woven that design. Turret Gul
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| The Thompson Saryk
Turret Gul Juval |
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"Vambery mentions still later
expeditions from Khiva to Merv ; one in about 1842, when
Medemin, or Muhammad Amin, brother of the then reigning
Khan, moved at the Lead of 15,000 horsemen, against the
Sarik Turkmen; and six campaigns when the same chief,
himself Khan, was opposed to the same enemy. The
conqueror captured the citadel of Merv and the fort of
Yalatun; but his triumph was of short duration; for no
sooner had he returned to his capital than the Sariks
rebelled, and put the men, garrison, and commandant to
the sword. Then followed a new campaign." On
Journeys Between Herat, and Khiva by Goldsmid Page 13
Mr. Taylour Thomson writes with regard to Merv, from a
visit paid in 1842. This gentleman was then on his way to
Khiva from Tehran, via Mashhad, Sarakhs, and the Oxus. He
found the city, known to modern times as Merv Shah Jahan,
and, to Persia especially, as one of the four great
cities of Khorasan (Herat, Mashhad, and Nishapur being
the other three), "an assemblage of " wretched
huts, commanded by a small mud fort, in which a Governor
" of the Khan of Khiva resides, and defended by a
few patereros and " swivel matchlocks." It had
nothing to boast of but a small bazaar to supply the Sarik
and Salor tribes who frequented it. On
Journeys Between Herat, and Khiva by Goldsmid Page 14
Saryk Rugs & Carpets:
Interesting
Books On Turkmen Rugs:
- Eiland,
Murray L Jr. Oriental Rugs A New
Comprehensive Guide. Boston: Little
Brown and Company, 1993 3rd edition.
- Krader,
Lawrence. Peoples of Central Asia.
Bloomington Indiana: Indiana University,
1966.
- Mackie,
Louise & Thompson, Jon. Turkmen.
Washington DC: Textile Museum, 1980.
- Reuben,
David M. Gols and Guls: Turkmen Carpets
from the 18th and 19th Centuries.
London: 1998
- Saunders,
Peter E. Tribal Visions. Novao Ca:
1980.
- Tsareva,
Elena. The Dudin Collection.
Meredith: Oriental Rug Auction Review,
Inc., 1990.
Articles that you may be interested in:
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| Saryk Torba |
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Selections
from the Thompson Oriental Carpet Sale
SHRINE
PILGRIMAGE IN TURKMENISTAN by
David Tyson
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Turkmen Books:
This list is not meant to be comprehensive but rather it
is to to give you an idea of what has been published.
Andrews, Mugal and Peter: Turkmen Needlework,
Dressmaking and Embroidery Among the Turkmen of Iran ;
London: 1976.
Arsh, Z.: Turkmans of Iran ; Iran: 1991. Text in
Farsi-English.
Elmby, Hans: Antique Turkmen Carpets IV ; Copenhagen:
1998.
Andrews, Peter et al.: Wie Blumen in Der Wuste ;
Hamburg: 1993.
Arsh, Z.: Turkmans of Iran ; Iran: 1991.
Azadi, Siawosch: Turkoman Carpets and
the Ethnographic Significance of their Ornaments. ;
Fishguard, UK: 1975.
Azadi, Siawosch: Turkmenische Teppiche ; Hamburg:
1970.
Barthold, V.V.: Four Studies on the History of Central
Asia ; Leiden: 1962
Bedaghi, Zabihollah: Niazjan and Turkman Rugs ;
Tehran: 1990. Farsi text
Beresneva, L: The Decorative and Applied Art of
Turkmenia ; Leningrad: 1976.
Brown, D. and I. Gillan: An Exhibition of Our
Collection of Turkoman Rugs ; Vancouver: 1976.
Clark, Hartley: Bokhara, Turkoman and Afghan ; London:
1922.
Elmby, Hans: Antique Turkmen Carpets ; Copenhagen:
1990.
Elmby, Hans: Antique Turkmen Carpets II ; Copenhagen:
1994. Danish and English text.
Elmby, Hans: Antique Turkmen Carpets III ; Copenhagen:
1996.
Elmby, Hans: Antique Turkmen Carpets IV ; Copenhagen:
1998.
Gombos, Karoly: Alte Zentralasiatische Teppich-Regi
Kozepazsiai Szonyegek (Central Asian Rugs) ; Budapest:
1979.German/Hungarian text.
Gombos, Karoly: Turkmenian Rugs ; Budapest: 1984.
Hungarian-English.,
Gombos, Karoly: Regi Turkmen Szonyegek (Turkoman Rugs)
; Budapest: 1975. English/Russian text.,
Hassouri, Ali: Turkman and Neighbouring Tribes' Carpet
Patterns ; Tehran: 1992.
Hoffmeister, Peter: Turkoman Carpets in Franconia ;
Edinburgh: 1980.
Jourdan, Uwe.: Oriental Rugs Vol. 5 Turkoman ;
Augsberg: 1988.
King, D. et al.: Turkoman Rugs in the Victoria and
Albert Museum ; London: 1980.
Loges, Werner: Turkoman Tribal Rugs ; Munich: 1980.
Mackie, Louise W. and Dr.
Jon Thompson: Turkman Tribal Carpets and Traditions ;
Washington: 1980.
McMullan, Joseph V. and Donald O. Reichert: The G.W.V.
and B.T. Smith Collection of Islamic Rugs at the Smith
Art Museum ; Springfield, Ma: 1970.
Melzhitova, El'mira: Turkmen Folk Art ; Ashkabad:
1990. Ashkabad Museum collection catalog of rugs, felts,
embroideries and jewelry. Russian text.
Melzhitova, El'mira: Turkmen Folk Art ; Ashkabad:
1990.
Michaud, Roland and Sabrina: Caravans to Tartary ; NY:
1978.
Moshkova, V.G. edited by George W. O'Bannon: Carpets
of the People of Central Asia ; Tucson: 1996.
Murav'yov, Nikolay: Journey to Khiva through the
Turkoman Country ; London: 1977.
Pinner, Robert and Murray L. Eiland Jr.: Between the
Black Desert and the Red, Turkmen Carpets from the
Wiedersperg Collection ; San Francisco: 1999.
Pinner, R. and M. Franses ed.: Turkoman Studies I ;
London: 1980.
Rueben, David: Gols and Guls, Turkmen Carpets from the
18th and 19th Centuries ; London: 1998.
Sotheby's: "Turkmen and Antique Carpets from the
Collection of Dr. and Mrs. Jon
Thompson" ; NY: 1993
Pinner, Robert and Murray L. Eiland Jr.: Between the
Black Desert and the Red, Turkmen Carpets from the
Wiedersperg Collection ; San Francisco: 1999.
Reed, Christopher: Turkoman Rugs ; Cambridge, Ma:
1966.
Rueben, David: Gols and Guls, Turkmen Carpets from the
18th and 19th Centuries ; London: 1998.
Schletzer D. & R.: Old Silver Jewellery of the
Turkoman ; Berlin: 1984.
Thacher, Amos: Turkoman Rugs ; London: 1940.
Wilfling, Hans: Teppiche-Motive der Turkvolker (Rugs
and Patterns of Turkic People) ; Wien: 1985.
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