Cleveland Museum of Art

Turkmen Main Carpet

Date

1870s

Medium

Wool, silk; 171 symmetrical (Turkish) knots per square inch

Culture

Turkmenistan or Afghanistan, Saryk tribe, 19th century

Department

Textiles

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Traditionally woven by women and girls, carpets are identified by fiber content, color, weave, and especially the type of rug knot-diagnostic features that are more reliable than designs. This rare carpet is admired for its brilliant color, lustrous wool, and spacious drawing. The main gul, or lobed motif, with three distinctive clover-leaf devices in each quadrant was a hallmark of the esteemed Salor tribe and often copied by other Turkmen tribes. The minor gul and the main border design were also duplicated. Only the minor borders with triangles in contrasting colors are Saryk hallmarks.

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