Turkotek Discussion Forums - View Single Post - Jurg Rageth's "Turkmen Carpets, A New Perspective"

Pierre Galafassi · January 26th, 2018, 10:53 AM

Hi Andy.

I am in full agreement with your statement about a Central Asian common language of design with various 'dialects'. There are enough clear examples of that and also several cases of astonishing survival of such motifs through millenaries.
 
As far as the roundels are specifically concerned, it is also good to remember that it was a popular motif, not only in Sogdian textiles (and in textiles and metalworks attributed to the Sassanians, their overlords for quite a while), but in contemporaneous Byzantine art (textiles and mosaics) and even before that in Roman mosaics. Attributing an invention of this particular motif to the Sogdians is therefore walking on very thin ice. It was only one of their (or their Asian customers’-) favorite ones to which they gave a recognizable flavor .

Bdw, the Sogdian-/Sassanian- roundels very often contained a pair of opposed animals, a motif which, again, was not rare in Byzantine art, but was as well used by various other Asian civilizations, including some dating from from the Bronze Age, for example in form of two animals facing a tree of Life.

Best regards
Pierre

January 26th, 2018, 10:53 AM	#11
Pierre Galafassi Members Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 153	Hi Andy. I am in full agreement with your statement about a Central Asian common language of design with various 'dialects'. There are enough clear examples of that and also several cases of astonishing survival of such motifs through millenaries.   As far as the roundels are specifically concerned, it is also good to remember that it was a popular motif, not only in Sogdian textiles (and in textiles and metalworks attributed to the Sassanians, their overlords for quite a while), but in contemporaneous Byzantine art (textiles and mosaics) and even before that in Roman mosaics. Attributing an invention of this particular motif to the Sogdians is therefore walking on very thin ice. It was only one of their (or their Asian customers’-) favorite ones to which they gave a recognizable flavor . Bdw, the Sogdian-/Sassanian- roundels very often contained a pair of opposed animals, a motif which, again, was not rare in Byzantine art, but was as well used by various other Asian civilizations, including some dating from from the Bronze Age, for example in form of two animals facing a tree of Life. Best regards Pierre Last edited by Pierre Galafassi; January 9th, 2022 at 08:47 AM.