Saryk tree “Gapyrga” Asmalyk

[Roelhart Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Roelhart]

Subject: Technical Puzzle: A Saryk "Tree" Asmalyk with Transitional Features

Introduction:

I have been a long-time reader of TurkoTek and am finally sharing a piece from my collection that presents an interesting technical paradox. It is a five-sided "Tree" (gapyrga) design Asmalyk. While the motif is traditionally associated with the Yomut, the technical "fingerprints" of this piece seem to point elsewhere.

Technical Data:

• Knot: Symmetrical.
• Density: Approx. 240–250 KPSI (measured via 33mm paperclip scale).
• Structure: Heavily depressed warps, giving the reverse a distinct "ribbed" or corduroy-like handle.
• Selvage: Mid-brown wool. It appears as a single cord from the front, but reveals a double-cord structure on the reverse.
• Field: Ivory-white wool (not cotton).
• Lower Finish: A flat-weave kilim band interwoven with magenta/lilac silk. The silk is worn in the center, revealing the white foundation.
• Dyes: Dark brown is intact (no corrosion). The lilac/pinkish tones appear in two saturations; they seem to be early synthetic (aniline/fuchsine) dyes from the late 19th-century transition.

My Observations:

Despite the "Tree" pattern, the combination of the symmetrical knot, extreme warp depression, and the specific double-cord selvage leads me to a Saryk attribution. The drawing of the trees feels more "stiff" or formal than the more fluid Yomut versions I have seen.

[Roelhart Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Roelhart]

Questions for Discussion:

1. Given the highly conservative Saryk structure (selvage and depression), is it common to see these early transitional dyes in pieces meant for internal tribal use?
2. Does the use of ivory wool rather than cotton for the field suggest a specific sub-group or a particular regional workshop?
3. Could this be a Saryk adaptation of a Salor motif, or is it simply a late 19th-century Saryk workshop taking on a "popular" Yomut design?

I look forward to your insights!

[Joe Lawrence Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Joe Lawrence]

Wow! You don’t see one of those often. I really appreciate your technical analysis of your piece. I would suggest getting a 1 inch knot counter that can easily be found on Amazon. You can then convert it to KPSD which is the standard in most books in the subject. To convert it, times the KPSI by 15.5. With yiur piece it works out to approximately 3800 KPSI which is rather high and may suggest an early Saryk piece. At least you can boil the equation to Saryk or Yomud since they were the only major tribes weaving the Symmetrical knot.
My thought are this; your piece is not common at all. It’s not the average piece you would find in books or for sale online. It’s difficult to think this was produced for the market and I’m leaning on personal use.

Please list the size and the weft color and I will do some research to see what I can find. Thank you for posting it and post more!

[Joe Lawrence Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Joe Lawrence]

There is an old article right here in Turkotek with a piece very similar to your. I cannot post the link but the title is called “A two-sided Asmalyk”

In the old post it’s attributed to the Saryk.

[Joseph R. Putnak Member Find all posts View Profile Close Joseph R. Putnak]

Hi,

FYI, some additional information on the dyes in Turkmen carpets can be found below (in quotes), copied directly from an earlier Turkotek discussion.

“An excellent general reference is Mark Whiting's article, The Dyes in Turkoman Carpets, which appears in Louise Mackie & Jon Thompson, Turkmen: Tribal Carpets and Traditions (1980). According to Whiting, natural colors in Turkoman rugs include shades of reds and browns produced by madder; shades of red, purple, and grey produced by cochineal; blues produced by indigo; infrequent yellows; and greens and orange produced by mixtures. Whiting reports that the early aniline dyes are almost absent from Turkoman work. However, beginning around 1890 Turkoman weavers began to use azo dyes. The most common was Ponceau 2R, which produces a brilliant red and often was combined with madder. The next common was Amaranth, which produces cochineal-like colors and cannot be distinguished from cochineal by eye. The use of such dyes was extensive after the turn of the century.”

There are also later, more comprehensive, dye analyses, but it appears as though the first-generation synthetic dyes (i.e., the aniline dyes) did not penetrate the Turkmen rug weaving areas to any significant extent. Also, one characteristic of the aniline dyes, particularly fuchsine, is their tendency to tip fade where exposed to light. And, from the images provided, I do not see any evidence for this. Without chemical analysis, it may be impossible to tell if any synthetic dyes, regardless of type, were used. However, I don’t think that the presence or absence of synthetic dyes in a given rug or trapping has anything to do with its intended use or market. If present, synthetics only provide us with an earliest possible dating.

Joseph