Welcome to TurkoTek's Discussion Forums

Archived Salons and Selected Discussions can be accessed by clicking on those words, or you can return to the Turkotek Home Page. Our forums are easy to use, and you are welcome to read and post messages without registering. However, registration will enable a number of features that make the software more flexible and convenient for you, and you need not provide any information except your name (which is required even if you post without being registered). Please use your full name. We do not permit posting anonymously or under a pseudonym, ad hominem remarks, commercial promotion, comments bearing on the value of any item currently on the market or on the reputation of any seller. Turkotek Discussion Forums - View Single Post - Ch-ch-ch--Chodor

View Single Post
Old June 5th, 2018, 01:31 AM   #7
Rich Larkin
Members
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 130
Default

James,

Steve was concerned about possible copyright issues if we post a page directly from the Mackie & Thompson Turkmen book, so I will summarize their comments regarding Chaudor rugs.

Many of them have survived. There were two distinct types before 1880 (when synthetic dyes were introduced). The later group featured the familiar field design and layout with a distinct color scheme consisting of a light purple or violet brown field with a secondary palette of light red, green-blue, two blues and yellow. A minor portion featured the light red in the field, in which case, the violet brown appeared as a secondary color in the ornaments. All pieces use the Persian knot open right, and most had a cotton weft, or ‘partial cotton,’ meaning that the wefts were two strands, sometimes all cotton, sometimes cotton and (brown) wool, and sometimes all wool. In such rugs, the three weft combinations would occur at random. Two shots of weft were the rule. Four cords of goat hair selvages.

The earlier type of Chaudor featured a slightly different palette of deeper purple-brown and red, with light celadon blue-green. An even older group featured even deeper colors including apricot and better wool. This last group is called proto-Chaudor.

My rug is a standard example of the later group, with the light purple field, etc. Here are a few images.


My old Chaudor is on the right. The Baluch-like corded selvages of goat hair are well illustrated.(The rug on the left, a yastik-sized item, belongs to our friend, Paul Smith. At the time, we were trying to determine whether it was also Chaudor.)


Backs. The slightly haphazard look of the backs on the later 19th century Chaudors is not as well shown in this image as in the closer one two below.


The twisted verticals of dark and light are warps and consist largely of hair. (See also at lower right.)


Somewhat uneven back.

Unfortunately, I have no examples of the more refined early ones. As regards your rug, I am no expert, but I think you may be giving it short shrift simply because it does not have the typical layout. Those colors look boffo to me, and I do not see the deterioration of Chaudor work (such as it was) having gone in that particular direction.

Rich
Rich Larkin is offline