Yomud Main Carpet with date

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

Mikko,
Very nice analysis of your rug! The knot count is right in the high range of older Yomut rugs that range in a KSPI of 1800-2800. Your rug at 153 KPSI equals KPSD 2371. The size is also consistent with mid 1800’s Yomut main rugs.

Reference; Werner Loges, “Turkoman Tribal Rugs” 1980 (page 65)

“Older examples are generally lighter in colour than later ones”

He goes to say that early examples can either be symmetrical or asymmetrical.

Pile height is 3-6mm

Loges also writes that the Turquoise color is found in older pieces. From your pictures, it appears you may have that color. The best way to tell is by viewing it with a lighted loupe magnification device.

By all accounts, your estimate of an 1800’s produced piece appears to be going in the right direction. It would be safe to start with a “2nd half of the 19c” in my opinion.

[Egbert Vennema Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Egbert Vennema]

Hi, to all .

Im trying to create a mental picture . On which kind of loom could, this has been made .. ?

Regards,

Egbert.

[Phil Smythe Member Find all posts View Profile Close Phil Smythe]

Mikko,

He goes to say that early examples can either be symmetrical or asymmetrical.

Moi Mikko,

As Joe says above the knots could be either sym or asym; have you determined which they are? I have made a tentative ' judgement' from the close the photos of back, but dont want to cloud your answer with my thoughts.

Awiat your reply.

Kiitoksia, Phil

[Mikko Saikku Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mikko Saikku]

Dear all (and "hei" to Phil!),

Thanks for the comments!

Joe, the other blue is a nice, lightish shade but not sure if it really qualifies as turquoise. And to Egbert, I believe most Turkmen pieces were woven on a horizontal loom.

And here's a close-up photo of the knotting for Phil and others--looks symmetrical to me:





Best,

Mikko

[Mikko Saikku Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mikko Saikku]

Dear all,

Finally found the time to go through my modest rug library. Elena Tzareva's Rugs & Carpets from Central Asia : The Russian Collections (1984) includes two close relatives of my rug, listed as "19th century Yomud khalis" #67 and #68 (pp. 106-108). My rug shares the elem panels with erre design (in a somewhat simpler form) with #67 and the border design with #68. In all three rugs, the selvedges are dark blue wrapped around four warps. The color scheme of my rug seems pretty much the same with Tzareva's examples, except that it has medium blue instead of green. The knot counts for the rugs in the book are somewhat lower (1 860 dm2).

Best,

Mikko

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

Nice work. I would still recommend an eye loupe with a built in light to see the colors. You will be amazed at the difference it makes to see the real colors of the rug. Example; In many cases what appears to be black to the eye is actually a wonderful Indigo blue under the loupe.

[Phil Smythe Member Find all posts View Profile Close Phil Smythe]

And here's a close-up photo of the knotting for Phil and others--looks symmetrical to me:

Agreed, and what I had essentially deduced from the back of the carpet (in this instance, as symmetric knots notoriously hard to define from backside)) but had not said so at the time in my last post above so as not to 'cloud' your assessment.

And erittain hyva and hyvät onnittelut for you Suomailinen's winning the World Championship Ice Hockey last night! Are you still over on kaivopuisto or down at Havis Amanda celebrating?

[Mikko Saikku Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mikko Saikku]

Dear all,

I was able to check out the warp structure with a magnifying glass: Z2S, white wool, which is compatible with Tzareva's examples. (I do need to get an illuminated loupe!)

Mikko

PS. Phil, I'm afraid I quit following ice hockey after Finland's cathartic IIHF world championship back in 1995...

[Chuck Wagner Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Chuck Wagner]

Hi,

It's quite unusual to see that much warp depression on Yomud work. Interesting.

Regards
Chuck

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

Hi,

Perhaps the warp depression points to a commercial workshop carpet dating to the very late 19th or early 20th century? (Or, possibly made by a more settled group?)

Joseph

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

I’m going to spread the rumor that a Saryk weaver was kidnapped by the Yomud tribe and forced to weave Yomud rugs. Sounds legit to me.

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

Hi Joe,

Wow! That's an interesting conjecture even if it is a wee bit convoluted! Maybe a simpler explanation is that the evolution of loom technology over time led to changes in weave structure/balance even as traditional tribal designs were preserved. Guess we'll never know for sure.

Joseph

[Mikko Saikku Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Mikko Saikku]

Dear all,

Thanks for the comments! Re Chuck and Joseph's insights, I cannot help thinking about the Russian Kustar programs of the late 19th century--more professional looms etc. in use also in the Turkmenistan region?

BTW, has anyone seen the illustrations of Yomud rugs in Bogolubow's Tapisseries de l'Asie centrale (1908)?

Best,

Mikko

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

Hi Mikko,

From my limited reading there appears to have been no concerted efforts to foster commercial (here, meaning mainly for export) rug production among the Central Asian Turkmen tribes, similar to the kustar program established in the Russian Caucasus. If there were attempts, they were not significant enough to be documented in any literature that I came across, or perhaps the women were not very receptive to such a government sponsored initiative. Also, unlike the Turkmen tribes among whom rug weaving was part of a long, unbroken tradition, in the villages of the Caucasus it appears to have been introduced by the kustar program essentially anew (or at least after a significant hiatus) along with standardized designs deemed to be the most commercially saleable.

Best,
Joseph

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

PS: For those readers interested in learning more about the Russian Kustar program designed to stimulate crafts in the Caucasus, here is a link:

https://richardewright.com/1117-1904..._Committee.pdf



Also, a link to Richard Wright's website with additional interesting material about Central Asia: https://richardewright.com/