Tekke Chuval?

[Joe Lawrence Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Joe Lawrence]

Here is a beautiful old Chuval I believe is from the Tekke. The color is unusual which may have came from smoke over the years? Unsure but it’s be cleaned right now and we shall see. Any thoughts on tribe or era?



Joe Lawrence

[PaulSmith Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close PaulSmith]

At first I was wondering if this chuval is a Middle Amu Darya product of some kind--Kizil Ayak was my first guess (and really, that's what I'm doing here). I was trying to get a sense of the structure--Kizil Ayaks have a ribbed look to the back a lot of the time, and their colors can be weirdly similar to Tekke colors. The border and main gul fit, though the chemche minor guls are indeed more like the Tekke version, and the elem has Tekke-esque trees, though. Still, here's a Kizil Ayak chuval from the Jozan site that has some similar design features (though the colors in this image are weird).



The usual Kizil Ayak chemche looks like this (below), with the central diamond shape, though I think they can employ other versions... as with the Jozan example. I own this one and shot this image from the back, showing the distinctive ribbed surface, and also the great colors, including yellow and green. A lot of Kizil Ayak chuvals that I've seen (including mine) have endured a fair amount of damage and are smoked, as is mine on the front. Not sure what that's all about...



But... then I saw this piece from a Grogan's auction, a few years ago. Here's your chuval, and it's Tekke. And they were dating theirs to the mid-19th c., so that's cool. I was unable to copy the image, but the link takes you right there.

https://www.groganco.com/auction-lot...ft._A2B47B5988

[Joe Lawrence Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Joe Lawrence]

Outstanding! Thank you for your assistance.

[Joe Lawrence Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Joe Lawrence]

It’s been nearly 2 years since I posted this and wanted to share some better pics of what I feel is an unusual piece. The link to the Grogan piece is nearly identical and they date their rug to mid 19c. I am seriously thinking about carbon 14 dating on this one because my thought is it’s older than mid 19c.
My example has a very aged patina color about it. Another odd find is the use of silk. I attempted to take pics reflecting the shimmering light from the silk and it’s really a thing of beauty. The colors used were also brilliant. The two shades of blue for example are used throughout with thoughtful harmony. I’ve included pics taken from the back side which shows the designs better. Any and all thoughts are appreciated.

[Steve Price Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Steve Price]

Hi Joe

Neither the design on the skirt nor the palette suggest anything except Yomud to me. Silk is extremely unusual on Yomud weavings, but not unheard of.

It wouldn't surprise me if it was woven in the first half of the 19th century, but C14 won't tell you much unless it was early 18th century or before.

It is an extraordinary piece.

Steve Price