Posted by James Allen on December 21, 1998 at 19:44:12:
In Reply to: Negative image posted by Marvin Amstey on December 21, 1998 at 19:03:06:
: In the attached scan of a well known ensi medallion, the center ground between the two 8-sided designs represents the figure of a splayed animal or animal pelt. I cannot take credit for seeing this as my impressions were simply that this was the ground between two connected design devices. When I asked Michael Craycraft what he thought the designs represented, his first impression was that of the splayed animal. In other words he saw the ground as design between the two small "guls" or flowers or medallions or whatever. Now when I look at this rug hanging on my wall, I can't see anything else. It may be that in some rugs, we should look at the negative design, but I'm not sure that this applies to all Turkomen rugs. marvin
: Just taking your position at face value the legs arn't turned right for a pelt. Funny but where one does see this funny bending of the extremities is in Alaskan and i persume Siberian totemic carvings. This iconogram isn't a desert adapted nomadic design, it is a beautiful and well worked out village rendition of something that looks archetypal and somehow gives me the impression of metamorphosis. Larry Joseph asked some superficial questions in a related post about where the galloping horse is. It is purple and the head and tail are outlined by the white highlights of the chemche gull. Don't tell me your are expecting a painting, it is highly abstract. The cat is a stick figure with turned triangular head. I would like to think the weavers of the representational safavid hunting carpets were our mongol friends. It is my understanding that they were. Now the cats are attacking game and on an angle to boot. It is a familiar mongol theme. My theories all rest on images and associations I know to have existed. This is why study is required. I have asked around and the fact is peoiple are not looking for the books on the Turkomans' lives. People arn't interested in hard work to achieve what they already assume they have. I have little chance of leading anybody to a new realization in a short virtual meeting, i just hope I am casting doubt on your perceptions of their art so you will begin to really look. JIM