Identifying Turkoman Salor??

[Larry Gerber]

I recently acquired an older Turkoman rug that I think may be late nineteenth century or early twentieth century Salor, but I wonder if those more expert in Turkoman rugs could help me with a more informed identification. I mainly collect Caucasian pieces but this came together with some other Turkomans that caught my attention.

imghttps://i.postimg.cc/xqJg91PZ/thumbnail-IMG-0178.jpg (https://postimg.cc/xqJg91PZ)/img

imghttps://i.postimg.cc/gxDHgXYx/thumbnail-IMG-0179.jpg (https://postimg.cc/gxDHgXYx)/img

imghttps://i.postimg.cc/vc5z62kL/thumbnail-IMG-0180.jpg (https://postimg.cc/vc5z62kL)
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imghttps://i.postimg.cc/hJtb6Djp/thumbnail-IMG-0181.jpg (https://postimg.cc/hJtb6Djp)/img

imghttps://i.postimg.cc/TKGcjqX8/thumbnail-IMG-0182.jpg (https://postimg.cc/TKGcjqX8)
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imghttps://i.postimg.cc/yWMjxCQ8/thumbnail-IMG-0183.jpg (https://postimg.cc/yWMjxCQ8)/img

[Chuck Wagner]

Hi Larry,

Based on both the border motifs and the structure of this rug (no depressed warps) I would judge it to be a Tekke piece rather than a late Salor.

The major gul motifs are often referred to as Salor guls but they appear in both Tekke and Saryk work as well as Salor. The border motifs are missing the classic "S" minor guard border found on such work; additionally the rest are all classic Tekke.

Pieces such yours are typically considered to be of the timeframe you suggest- late 1800's through the 1930's or so, and the presence of some synthetic dyes (like the red-orange) confirms that it is certainly later than 1860 or so. Later pieces also tend to have less open space between motifs in the central field, as we see here.

Regards
Chuck Wagner

[Alex Wolfson]

Hi Larry,

I remember reading somewhere that rugs of that type were made by Tekke weavers in Merv.

If anyone has more comprehensive information I'd also be keen to hear it!

Regards,

Alex

[Larry Gerber]

Alex,

Thanks for the additional information. Do you agree with Chuck on the possible dating of the rug?

Larry

[James Blanchard]

Hi Larry,

I tend to agree with Chuck... Tekke weavers and probably the latter third of the 19th century.

Regards,

James

[Mikko Saikku]

Dear all,

I would also agree with the identification of Larry's rug as a Tekke work utilizing Salor motifs. To me, it looks somewhat older than most similar pieces. Cf. this rather large (95 x 160 cm) Tekke(?) chuval I acquired some years ago:

https://i.postimg.cc/MGYDTbSs/Tekke-Chuval.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/KjTQZXvT/Chuval-1.jpg

https://i.postimg.cc/bY1QN991/Chuval-2.jpg

Or this unusually large (220 x 325 cm) main carpet with Salor guls:

https://i.postimg.cc/4NBHmL7H/Salor-Helander-200121-325-x-217.jpg

I almost bought also the latter one as it would have made a stunning decorative carpet. Unfortunately, it had been exposed to intense sunlight and the other end was badly faded. Both rugs seem to contain at least one synthetic color (orange-red), but the effect is really not that jarring, and the work(wo)manship is just excellent. Compared to Larry's rug, the borders of both of these rugs are more crowded, and the ends of the main carpet contain the triangle motif associated with (early) Soviet production. To me they seem somewhat younger than the rug posted by Larry. I'd guess they both are Tekke work and date from the first third of the 20th century?

Best,

Mikko

[Alex Wolfson]

Dear Larry,

Sorry for the late follow up; I have not looked in for a while. I would agree broadly with Chuck's dating. Around 1900 would seem about right.

[Larry Gerber]

Thanks, Alex, for the follow up.

Larry

[Mikko Saikku]

Dear all,

I'd like to post one more rug to this thread. I actually posted it way back in 2002 or so as my first or second Turkotek rug ever. I believe the consensus then for this finely knotted Tekke chuval was that it dates from the first quarter of the 20th century (plenty of borders here, but the orange is more subdued than in the other rugs posted in this thread):

https://i.postimg.cc/m2Bft7hJ/Fredriksson-Chuval.jpg

But what would be the chronology from the oldest to the youngest for the four rugs in this thread? To me, Larry's rug seems somehow the most archaic.

Happy New Year / Hyv?? uutta vuotta!

Mikko

[Steve Price]

Hi Mikko

I don't think there's a way to tell the order in which those four pieces were woven.

Steve Price