Salor Chuval
Turkmen, 19th century
Sotheby's Olympia, Fine Rugs and Carpets Including
Islamic Textiles
Lot 30
Estimate: £12,000-16,000
Lot 30, a Salor chuval (2) from the first half 19th
century is an excellent example of an early Salor
turret-gul chuval. The knot is asymmetric open left. The
square shape of the turret guls suggests an early age.
The knot ration is V/H cm 6/6, which is a balanced weave.
Earlier pieces tend to be taller than they are wide while
later pieces flatten out and are wider then they are
tall.
Sotheby's compares this to the Arthur D. Jenkins chuval
(Mackie & Dr. Jon
Thompson, plate 8). The Mackie
& Thompson turret gul chuval has guls that are
slightly taller than they are wide and the knot ratio is
15 H 17 V to the inch. The gul spacing in the Mackie
& Thompson piece is also slightly more generous
suggesting that lot on offer may be a little later than
the Jenkins chuval. The guls in the Sotheby's Olympia
piece are very similar in proportions and execution to
the gul in the Thompson sale Salor tent bag (chuval) (SNY
12/16/93, lot 60). Both this bag and the Thompson sale
chuval have the small intersticial white diamonds
bifurcating the turrets. It is interesting to note that
the offered lot lacks the interior small intersticial
white diamonds bifurcating the turrets while the Thompson
sale chuval has them on the interior and exterior
turrets. The Arthur D. Jenkins chuval lacks them
entirely.
Consider as well the more elaborate minor guls. The
offered piece has a rams horn device on the dark squares
of the minor gul, which is altogether entirely lacking in
the other two discussed. It suggests to me that, while
the Jenkins chuval is a wonderful old piece, this chuval
may have had the more sophisticated weaver. The alem
skirt is similar to that of the Thompson sale Salor Tent Bag.
From www.Sotheby.com
Sotheby's Auctions » Fine Rugs &
Carpets including Islamic Textiles » lot 30
Sale W02871
THE PROPERTY OF AN EUROPEAN COLLECTOR
W - A Salor
chuval, Central Turkestan, first half 19th century
London, Olympia 12,00016,000 GBP Session 1
11 Jun 02 2:00 PM
Lot Sold. Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium: 16,450 GBP
MEASUREMENTS
143 by 84cm.,4ft. 8in. by 2ft. 9in.
DESCRIPTION
This lot contains 1 item(s).
Technical Analysis:
Warp: Wool, ivory, Z2S
Weft: 1. wool, ivory, Z2S; 2.
wool, ivory with a few dark brown hairs, Z2S; 3.
wool, dark brown, Z2S; 4. wool, dark brown, dyed
red, in a small area of the lower part of the
chuval
Pile: Wool, Z2, Z3, Z4; silk: Z3,
Z2
V/Hcm: 6/6
Sidecords: Wool, 3 warps overcast
in madder-red
Ends: Upper end- magenta and
ivory kilim hemmed and sewn
Lower end- ivory kilim, hemmed
and sewn
Colours: Dark madder-red, light
madder-red, aubergine, magenta, light magenta,
ivory, yellow, dark indigo, medium indigo, light
indigo, sea-green, charcoal, walnut, purple
The Salor were one
of the most powerful of the Turkmen tribes. They remained
an independent people until around the middle of the 19th
century, when they were taken over by the Saryk and
Tekke. For a historical discussion of the Salor see
Tzareva, E, Salor Carpets, Hali, Vol.6, No.2, pp.126-133.
It is the early examples of Salor weaving,
prior to the appropriation by the Saryk and Tekke, which
are considered to be amongst the most skilfully woven and
beautiful of all Turkoman rugs. The Salor chuval offered
here has all the typical qualities associated with early
production. Technically, it has characteristic ivory
warps and brown wefts. It has asymmetric knots open to
the left and uses a lustrous wool with delicate touches
of silk highlights, limited to the leaves of the lower
partial guls. It has been painstakingly crafted and has a
perfectly balanced design. Both the wonderfully crisp
drawing and the rich colouring add to its timeless
beauty.
For a very similar example, however, with a different
elem design, please refer to Mackie,
Louise W. and Thompson, Jon, Turkmen: Tribal Carpets and
Traditions, Washington, D.C., 1980, p.72, pl.8. For
other comparable examples please see Loges, W, Turkoman
Tribal Rugs, Munich, 1980, p.47, pl.23; Phillips, London,
6 October 1992, lot 4 and Sotheby's, New York, 17
September 1992, lot 67.
Published:
Hali, Issue 77, p.158.
Exhibited:
Hans Elmby Antique Oriental Carpets, Antique Turkmen
Carpets II, 9-15 October 1994, Copenhagen, Denmark, p.10,
pl.15.
For Further Reading:
Guide To Turkish
Prayer Rugs
Thanks and best wishes,
J. Barry O'Connell Jr.
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