West Turkestan, c. 324 x 270 cm, late 18th century, asymmetrical knot open to the left in dense warp layering, H 50, V 55 = 2,750 kts/sqm. The Salor tribes with their carpets represent the aristocracy of Turkmen tribes. They used a high proportion of luxurious materials, such as silk and insect-derived dyes. Their products are especially rare, and so far only 37 complete central carpets from this group have been published. This finely knotted red piece is also wider than usual with 6 horizontal gülli-gül rows, in contrast to the more common five-row central carpets. A comparable specimen in the same size and with the same number of güls can be found only in Jourdan’s Battenberg catalogue. In contrast to smaller knotted pieces, a high proportion of silk has been used here, which is rather rare in large-format carpets. This piece is in good pile condition for its age, with a few low areas. A few sewn tears and repairs as well as two large repairs to the right outer long side. At both ends, the former kilim ends are no longer preserved and the narrow outer borders are trimmed short. Edge damage.

Further reading:
Elena Tsareva, Turkmen Carpets, Masterpieces of Steppe Art, from 16th to 19th Centuries, The Hoffmeister Collection,ill. 1; Jürg Rageth, Turkmenische Teppiche, Ein neuer Ansatz, vols I and II, cat. nos 16, 17; Elena Tsareva, Turkmen Carpets, The Neville Kingston collection, ill. pp. 26 and 27; Robert Pinner and Murray L. Eiland Jr., Between the Black Desert and the Red, Turkmen Carpets from the Wiedersperg Collection, plate 1; Catalogue of the exhibition “Wie Blumen in der Wüste”, on the occasion of the 7th International Conference on Oriental Carpets (ICOC), Museum für Völkerkunde, Hamburg, pl. 96; Uwe Jourdan, Battenberg Antiquitäten-Katalog, Turkmenische Teppiche, ill. 1; Werner Loges, Turkmenische Teppiche, pl. 17; Dorotheum auction catalogue, Turkmenische Teppiche - Eine Sammlung aus Schleswig-Holstein, April 2019, lot 54.