Posted by Steve Price on November 22, 1998 at 16:52:43:
In Reply to: yomud Salanchak posted by James Allen on November 22, 1998 at 16:02:26:
Jim presents a very good point, all too often forgotten by Turkmen collectors (including me, I'm afraid). That is, much of the antique Turkmen weaving that we have is not the ordinary, it is the extraordinary. And the very best of the old pieces that we have are not just the cream, they are the creme de la creme (aside to Daniel: I hope I got the French right after all your coaching!).
Jim also mentions the genetic relation between American Indians, who migrated across the Bering Strait on a land bridge that disappeared many thousands of years ago, to Central Asian nomads. He is correct, of course, about the lineage. However, this is unlikely to have anything to do with whatever similarities there are between some of the textiles made in the past few hundred years in the two regions.
Steve Price