One Pair of Early Salor Chuvals

One Pair of Early Salor Chuvals
130 x 77 cm and 128 x 74 cm (4' 3" x 2' 6" and 4' 2" x 2' 5")
Turkmenistan, ca. 1800 or earlier
Condition: good according to age, mostly good pile, slightly incomplete all around, several small repairs, one tear backed with fabric at one piece, other piece reduced in width for about 1-2 cm and backed with fabric, slight signs of use, scattered small moth damages
Published: "Textil Kunst Feuer, Teppiche und Textilien aus österreichischen Privatsammlungen", TKF 2002, plate 68
Warp: wool, weft: wool, pile: wool and silk

Of the three types of Salor chuval, there are fewer known examples with a field design of nine chuval güls (as opposed to sixteen), and this is the only pair of chuvals. Within this small group of seven complete examples, most have the sagdaq secondary gül seen here.
The Salor chuvals with this design are described by researcher Jürg Rageth as the most noble of all Turkmen chuval designs, and seem to reflect more closely the mood of the main carpets in composition and colour balance. Although not yet tested, the reds might well be dyed completely with insect dye, lac and cochineal, as is seen in other examples tested by Rageth with sixteen-gül field designs but with similar colourations.
The composition and spacing of the design in these examples are arguably the best in this small class, as is seen in the height of both primary and secondary güls, the rhythm of the diagonal bands of plants in the elems, the clear articulation of the border designs and the pointed hooked forms at the heart of the chuval güls.

Estimate: € 40000 - 60000