Mikko Saikku
March 5th, 2022, 12:51 AM
Dear all,
I really need some diversion during these disturbing times, so I decided to post these two Turkmen chuvals I acquired a little while ago. I found them at a local auction and made my bids based solely on pictures. Frankly, I was not extremely impressed by the photos, but decided to go ahead.
To my surprise, my rather low bids won, and I unexpectedly became the new owner of these two chuvals. I must say I very pleasantly surprised when I picked them up: they look much better in nature than on the auction website, are in great shape, and seem/feel considerably older than I originally thought. Whatever they are, they do not seem very typical? I have seen quite a few Turkmen chuvals over the years, but nothing that is really close to these. After seeing them in nature, my off-the-cuff guess was mid-20th century Soviet Turkmenistan production (but more about that later).
Here are the two chuvals, from the original auctioneer photos. Woolen warps and six colors: reddish brown (brick) in two different shades; light brown; creamy white; light yellow; and very dark blue. To my eye, nothing clearly synthetic. Tekke-style design with guls(?). The feel is quite supple in the Turkmen tradition. The pile is almost intact, although #1 has experienced some long-term furniture pressure.
#1 / 195 x 138 cm / piled area 88 x 136 cm
https://i.postimg.cc/MK7wDKXw/Chuval-pair-I-1.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/L6pKnKDb/Chuval-pair-I-2.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/7ZZR2x2m/Chuval-pair-I-3.jpg
and #2 / 198 x 135 cm / piled area 99 x 133 cm
https://i.postimg.cc/3N31QBjn/Chuval-pair-II-1.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/Hxg4b2Nd/Chuval-pair-II-2.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/dVZ8XpPJ/Chuval-pair-II-3.jpg
The use of light brown on the borders of main guls makes them look a bit weird to me. Here are pictures of the two chuvals on top of a 1960s Afghan, and with two circa 1900 Yomud chuvals (the colors are a little better here, but still somewhat off):
https://i.postimg.cc/HxkjG8cb/IMG-20220304-092405.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/vHVTdsB2/IMG-20220304-092422.jpg
And here's a backside comparison with an antique Yomud:
https://i.postimg.cc/8crpDR1f/IMG-20220304-142316.jpg
I called the auction house about their provenance and learned that the chuvals came from the estate of a diplomat who was stationed in Pakistan and Afghanistan in the 1980s and acquired quite a few rugs, both modern and antique. I don't know how well that works with my theory about Turkmenistan SSR origin?
In any case, I would very much appreciate any input about these two chuvals. A couple of questions:
- How common is it to find such a pair of almost identical chuvals? I'm under the impression that they were traditionally made in pairs?
- How much Turkmen chuval production there was during the 20th century? (To my understanding the production declined over time as I really have not come across many more recent examples.)
- And most importantly, what's your take on the origin and age of these two chuvals? Yomud/Tekke/Turkmenistan SSR production/or maybe even more recent Turkmen refugee work? Currently I'm leaning toward early 20th century, but I really have no idea!
Best,
Mikko
I really need some diversion during these disturbing times, so I decided to post these two Turkmen chuvals I acquired a little while ago. I found them at a local auction and made my bids based solely on pictures. Frankly, I was not extremely impressed by the photos, but decided to go ahead.
To my surprise, my rather low bids won, and I unexpectedly became the new owner of these two chuvals. I must say I very pleasantly surprised when I picked them up: they look much better in nature than on the auction website, are in great shape, and seem/feel considerably older than I originally thought. Whatever they are, they do not seem very typical? I have seen quite a few Turkmen chuvals over the years, but nothing that is really close to these. After seeing them in nature, my off-the-cuff guess was mid-20th century Soviet Turkmenistan production (but more about that later).
Here are the two chuvals, from the original auctioneer photos. Woolen warps and six colors: reddish brown (brick) in two different shades; light brown; creamy white; light yellow; and very dark blue. To my eye, nothing clearly synthetic. Tekke-style design with guls(?). The feel is quite supple in the Turkmen tradition. The pile is almost intact, although #1 has experienced some long-term furniture pressure.
#1 / 195 x 138 cm / piled area 88 x 136 cm
https://i.postimg.cc/MK7wDKXw/Chuval-pair-I-1.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/L6pKnKDb/Chuval-pair-I-2.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/7ZZR2x2m/Chuval-pair-I-3.jpg
and #2 / 198 x 135 cm / piled area 99 x 133 cm
https://i.postimg.cc/3N31QBjn/Chuval-pair-II-1.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/Hxg4b2Nd/Chuval-pair-II-2.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/dVZ8XpPJ/Chuval-pair-II-3.jpg
The use of light brown on the borders of main guls makes them look a bit weird to me. Here are pictures of the two chuvals on top of a 1960s Afghan, and with two circa 1900 Yomud chuvals (the colors are a little better here, but still somewhat off):
https://i.postimg.cc/HxkjG8cb/IMG-20220304-092405.jpg
https://i.postimg.cc/vHVTdsB2/IMG-20220304-092422.jpg
And here's a backside comparison with an antique Yomud:
https://i.postimg.cc/8crpDR1f/IMG-20220304-142316.jpg
I called the auction house about their provenance and learned that the chuvals came from the estate of a diplomat who was stationed in Pakistan and Afghanistan in the 1980s and acquired quite a few rugs, both modern and antique. I don't know how well that works with my theory about Turkmenistan SSR origin?
In any case, I would very much appreciate any input about these two chuvals. A couple of questions:
- How common is it to find such a pair of almost identical chuvals? I'm under the impression that they were traditionally made in pairs?
- How much Turkmen chuval production there was during the 20th century? (To my understanding the production declined over time as I really have not come across many more recent examples.)
- And most importantly, what's your take on the origin and age of these two chuvals? Yomud/Tekke/Turkmenistan SSR production/or maybe even more recent Turkmen refugee work? Currently I'm leaning toward early 20th century, but I really have no idea!
Best,
Mikko