I re-read your Salon and have come to the conclusion that it would be nice to have a ready reference to rug structure classified by tribal,village and city attribution. I know that there is a plethora of knowledge (lots of it, too) in disparate sources (it is spread out a lot, too) but an on-line reference source would be helpful.
Thankfully, you have volunteered for this duty. First, an alphabetical listing of all known Turkmen types and relative construction features. This would allow anyone to inspect a Turkmen weaving and determine the source. Or at least, by process of elimination, have a pretty good idea where it came from.
Next, tackle the SW Persian tribal weavings. We need to know who wove with symmetrical and who wove with asymmetrical and where the cotton wefts fit in and that kind of stuff. Those different colored wefts and typical colors would be helpful, too.
Pretty soon you will be delving into the morass of Veramin weavings. I am sure Parviz Tanavoli would help with that.
Need a government grant? Steve can help you with that. The new stuff needs a bit of classifying, too.

Let me know when you are finished.

Patrick Weiler

I think everyone would agree that reliable attribution criteria would be highly desirable things to see in the next 25 years or so, and seem like a reachable goal.

A number of books include lists of structural characteristics for particular geographic and tribal weavings, and we have an area on Turkotek devoted to this subject, to which we always welcome contributions. And without meaning to re-whip a sleeping horse, it is my opinion that the biggest obstacle we face is that we do not have a clear cut set of rules by which we can decide which criteria are trustworthy or what to do about it when there is conflicting information.

Regards,

Steve Price

The way I envision it, I'll play "editor" and assemble a collection of worthy essays on attribution.

In two days I'll be 57. I should be able to knock this out before I'm 80.

Awaiting your submissions,

-Jerry-

I know a concrete place you could start.

I saw a piece recently that was claimed not just to be "Yomut" and "old," but "Karagashli" and "18th century." These would seem to be indicators worth capturing.

Happy Birthday!

Regards,

R. John Howe

Congratulations and Happy Birthday.

-And you do not look a day over 55!

Best, Michael