| Dear folks - In the second half of her 1996 ICOC presentation to which
I referred above Mugul Andrews presents a broader discussion of Turkmen
wedding tradition in widely separated Turkic societies. First, she says,
"It is, of course, the transition from one phase of the bride's life to
another that is being celebrated, but also protected and made as
auspicious as possible...Textiles have a special role, then in Turkic
wedding customs, representing that tradition." She then gives some
examples and describes the wedding traditions among "the Qazaq (ed. West
Mongolia), the Nogay (ed. Daghistan in the Caucasus) and from my own
country, Turkey (ed. the Alevi Turkmen in the Bergama area)...what I want
to emphasise with the examples I give is the common attitude that
underlies teh use of these textiles among all Turkic poeples, to show that
the (ed. wedding) carpet is not, in fact, exceptional. Ms. Andrews
describes a number of wedding related textiles. For example, for the
Qazaqs she lists the bride's veil, an embroidered saddle cloth,a curtain
held in front of her when she has dismounted and is walking towards the
wedding tent and the felt she sit on once inside. She gives particular
prominence in each of these three descriptions to the curtain-like cloth.
She says that the Qazaq curtain is about 6'6"X5'0," has a silk field and a
velvet or wool border all round in a contrasting color. The field is a
"lively" color and often has applique added. At the top are loops through
which a decorative plaited rope is passed. Such screens are used in the
wedding ceromonies of all three of these Turkic societies. The curtain is
used to screen the bride while she is riding on the camel (or nowadays in
the truck), again to screen her as she walks to the tent, and once inside
the tent, it serves as the screen behind which she sits and stays during
her initial period in her new home (often a year). Among the Turkmen of
Turkey, she says that a similar screening cloth, an orange kilim, has
continuing importance throughout a bride's life. "...it would remain on
top of her clothing sacks. When going to summer pastures she would drape
it over her property as an ornament, and when she or her husband died it
would be draped over the coffin. At no time would it be spread on the
ground or used for any other purpose than these." It is interesting that,
despite the apparent importance of these wedding "screens," they seem not
to attract collecting attention, perhaps because, as with the "wedding
rugs," they are difficult to identify. One other reason might be that
Andrews' description of some of them suggests that they are often not
particularly attractive. Their central function may be to screen rather
than to decorate. Regards, R. John Howe |