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Salor Turret Gul Chuval Sotheby's Olympia

JBOC Attribution: Oriental Rugs > Turkmen Rugs > Salor Rugs

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 12,000—16,000 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.

Persian Rugs the O'Connell Guides