TURKMEN TRIBAL RUGS TURKMEN TRIBAL RUGS

1 Beshir prayer rugs

RALPH KAFFEL

Few Turkmen rugs are such obvious products of their environments as Beshir prayer rugs in that motifs associated with the surrounding rug weaving cultures can be clearly seen in their designs, and yet exactly where and by whom they were made still remains a matter of debate. In this context a well-known rug author and collector reviews the research into this enigmatic group and offers a method of dividing the known examples by design.

1Type 2 Beshir 2 3 prayer rug [2.1], middle Amu Darya region, ca. 1800- 1825. 1.45 x 2.31m 5 (4'9" x 7'7"). Ralph & Linda Kaffel Col - lection, Piedmont, California, courtesy Rippon Boswell, Wiesbaden 2Type 1-A Beshir prayer rug [1.4], middle Amu Darya region, first half 19th century. 1.12 x 1.93m (3'8" x 6'4"). Jim Dixon Collect - ion, Occidental, California 3Type 1-C Beshir prayer rug [1.24], middle Amu Darya region, ca. 1875. 1.12 x 1.70m (3'8" x 5'7"). Courtesy Sotheby’s New York

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4Type 2 Beshir 2 6a 4 5Type 2 Beshir prayer rug [2.17], 45 prayer rug [2.46], middle Amu Darya middle Amu Darya region, first half region, ca. 1800- 19th century. 1825. 0.95 x 1.40m 1.07 x 1.73m (3'2" x 4'7"). (3'6" x 5'8"). Jim Cour tesy Rippon Dixon Collect ion, Bos well, Occi dental, Wiesbaden California

THE TAXONOMY OF MOST TURKMEN RUGS is meticu- Somewhat earlier, in 1975, H. McCoy Jones and Jeff Boucher had NOTES lously precise: the weavings of tribes such as the Tekke, Yomut, suggested another derivation for the name. They wrote that these rugs 1 Murray L. Eiland, Jr. & Murray 3 Robert Pinner, ‘Beshir Carpets of of the People of Central Asia, edited p.139. König wrote that the prayer Chodor, Ersari and Arabachi, as well as the ‘S’ (Salor and Saryk) were marketed in Bukhara, which in the Sart language, according Eiland III, Oriental Rugs: A Com- the Bukhara Emirate’, HALI 3/4, & translated by George W. O’Ban- rugs “likely owe their origin in this 2 and ‘Eagle-göl’ groups are, in most cases, clearly and unambigu- to Heinrich Jacoby, is known as Bas’chira – hence Beshir. plete Guide, London 1998, p.244, 1981, pp.294-304. non & Ovadan K. Amanova-Olsen, area to non-Turkmen influences” ously attributed. Not so with Beshirs: authors, scholars and col- Aside from the eponyms, there is little certainty to be found in pl.232: “The pomegranate prayer 4 Louise W. Mackie & Jon Thomp- Tucson 1996, p.300. Moshkova and “the fact that Bukhara was a lectors are not even able to agree whether the Beshir attribution almost all writings on the subject. Even one of the most comprehen- rugs often have features that closely son, Turkmen, Tribal Carpets and makes scant mention of Beshir famous religious centre played a refers to a tribe or a place of origin. sive articles, written by Robert Pinner in 1981, begins “Our lack of relate them to Beshir-type rugs, Traditions, Washington DC 1980. prayer rugs, just a couple of sen- major part in this development”. As late as 1998, Murray Eiland proposed that Beshir weavings were knowledge about ‘Beshir’ carpets has recently been highlighted by although they have not been con vin - 5 Ibid., pp.173, 187. tences on p.303. 10 William A. Wood, ‘Turkmen Eth - 3 named either for the town of Beshir or for the acronym formed by the publication of two opposed theories about their origin”. He was cingly attributed to a specific origin, 6 Ibid., p.192. Pinner 1981, op.cit, 8 A. Felkersam, Alte Teppiche Mit - nohistory’, in George O’Bannon Besh and Shahr, or ‘Five Villages’ on the Amu Darya (Oxus) River referring to the essays by Jon Thompson and Hans König published nor is it clear whether they were pointed out in his notes that he had tel asiens, translation of the 1914 et.al., Vanishing Jewels: Central (most likely Beshir, Burdalyk, Khojambass, Chakyr and either the previous year in the Washington ICOC exhibition catalogue, meant for use locally or in such not seen the name ‘Olam’ in any Russian text, Hamburg 1979, p.88. Asian Tribal Weavings, Rochester 4 Kerki or Khalaj; all but the last two on the east bank of the river). Turkmen. Under the heading ‘Bukhara’, Thom p son discussed a num- cities as Bukhara”. of the tribal lists available to him, Felkersam described the Dudin 1990, pp.31-2. Eiland, who has travelled to the region, wrote that although “some ber of rugs commonly described as Beshir, without once using the 2 H. McCoy Jones & Jeff W. Bou - and that Moshkova had speculated prayer rug as “Uzbek Beshir”. 11 David Black, ed., The Macmillan writers have attributed Beshir rugs to the city of Bokhara itself, name. His view is that many of these rugs were woven by non- cher, The Ersari and Their Weavings, that they were a non-Turkic tribe. 9 Hans König, ‘Ersari Rugs, Names Atlas of Rugs and Carpets, New 1 Bokhara dealers are particularly clear in denying this attribution.” Turkmen people who, “in terms of culture and lifestyle, were closer Washington DC 1975, p.2. 7 Valentina G. Moshkova, Carpets and Attributions’, HALI 4/2, 1981, York 1985, p.174. Echoing Felker -

76 HALI ISSUE 151 See www.hali.com for the full classification of Beshir prayer rugs HALI ISSUE 151 77 TURKMEN TRIBAL RUGS TURKMEN TRIBAL RUGS

6Type 2 Beshir 6727 89 8Type 3-A Beshir prayer rug [2.52], 8 prayer rug [3.1], middle Amu Darya middle Amu Darya region, ca. 1850- region, ca. 1800- 1875. 0.88 x 1.49m 1825. 0.99 x 1.85m (2'11" x 4'11"). (3'3" x 6'1"). HALI HALI Archive Archive 7Type 2 Beshir 9Type 3-D Beshir prayer rug [2.56], prayer rug [3.29], middle Amu Darya middle Amu Darya region, ca. 1830- region, ca. 1875. 1850. 1.07 x 1.83m 0.91 x 1.65m (3'10" (3'6" x 6'0"). Jim x 5'5"). Ralph & Dixon Collection, Linda Kaffel Col - Occi dental, lect ion, Piedmont, California California

to far-off Cairo and Istanbul than to their neigh bours the Turkmen”.5 and dyeing the province of men. Felkersam wrote that Kerki and identified the Beshir as “one of the most important of the Ersari PRAYER RUGS In the same volume, König wrote that there was no doubt as to the Beshir rugs were very similar: both encompassed a group he sub-tribes” but offered no supporting evidence.11 Writing in 1975, Beshir prayer rugs were influenced by designs from Turkey, Persia, Turkmen origin of Ersari rugs, which include those he refers to as called “Bucharer”, while rugs with a more complicated design of Siawosch Azadi, citing Karpov’s Turkmen Geneaology of 1928, identi- Uzbekistan, China and Eastern Turkestan. Thompson commented on “Beshir type”. Citing V.G. Moshkova’s 1970 Russian publication, flowers, with rich colours, were called Beshir. Attempting to dis- fies the Beshir as a sub-group of the UluÌ-Tepe, one of the three sub- the relationship between the ‘head and shoulders’ designs of certain Carpets of the Peoples of Central Asia, he offers the possibility that a large tinguish between ‘Turkmen Beshir’ and ‘Uzbek Beshir’, he wrote groups of the Ersari along with the Qara-Bekaul and Gunash.12 Elena Beshir prayer rugs and the ‘keyhole’ or ‘re-entrant’ mih rabs in 16th contingent of Salors and Olams were incorporated into the Ersari that white-ground and floral prayer rugs, atypical of the Turkmen, Tsareva is, however, quite firm in her contention (1984) that “while century Anatolian prayer rugs.15 Earlier, in 1940, Amos Thacher had tribal structure.6 Moshkova had written that the Salor, “famous as the were made by the Uzbek Beshir.8 König, in a 1981 HALI article, in [rug] literature such names as Pende, Beshir, Bukhara and the like associated Beshir prayer rugs with Turkish rather than Turkmen best weavers… switched to the tradition of local weavers. These rich confirms Felkersam’s views, writing that Beshir rugs could not are still common… in the cases of Pende and Beshir the names of the designs.16 Persian influences are evident in the Herati patterns, more and unique traditions probably belonged to the Olams and other have been produced by workshops in the area, as such workshops carpets and rugs derive from their places of origin”.13 common to secular examples than to prayer rugs.17 Uzbek influence ancient groups [who] populated this part of [the] Amu Darya”.7 did not exist, but were cottage industry products commissioned I could compare published views as to the ethnogenesis of Beshir is most apparent in certain early white-ground prayer rugs. Chinese An important Russian author of an earlier generation, A. Felk - by agents to be sold in Bukhara and its environs, either to wealthy carpets at some length, but no clear uncontradictory consensus influence manifests itself in the palette, and, to a lesser extent, er sam, writing in 1914, stated that in the village of Kerki on the locals or for export to other parts of the Islamic world.9 would emerge. I favour an amalgam of the ideas of Pinner, König structure. Thacher, describing one of his prayer rugs, mentions left bank of the Amu Darya, and Beshir on the right bank, there In his oft-cited chapter on ‘Turkmen Ethnohistory’ (1990), and Moshkova – that Beshir rugs were woven in the villages of the “Chinese yellow” and “wool which is more like Chinese wool than were 4,000 houses, half of which were engaged in rug weaving. William Wood makes no mention of a Beshir tribe, even though Middle Amu Darya by Ersari weavers, along with transplanted Salors like Turkoman”.18 Werner Loges too makes specific mention of the According to K. Laurenti, who had collected rugs from this area the glossary in the same book, Vanishing Jewels, defines the Beshir as and Olams, in a sort of 19th century Emirate-sanctioned DOBAG distinctive yellow, calling it “Beshir yellow”, made from saffron, saf- for Felkersam in 1902, all weaving was done by women, with tools a “major Turkoman tribe”.10 In 1985, David Black, or his co-authors, Project, marketed primarily from Bukhara.14 flower (dyer’s weld), isparak and occasionally pomegranate peel.19

NOTES sam, Black speaks of the “Beshir in some cases (Pende and Beshir) tribe of the Ersaris, as none have Car pets, Fishguard 1976. In his p.251; Sotheby’s, London, 19 Octo- Reed followed Thacher. East Turk- granates. Friedrich Spuhler, Hans 23 Yomut prayer rugs: Alberto Levi Ersari”, who were settled and lived the names derive from their places been identified as living here by notes to pl.17, Lefevre states ber 1983, lot 493; Tsareva, op.cit., es tan (Xinjiang) influence can be König & Martin Volkmann, Old & Edouardo Concaro, Sovrani Tap - in domed mud-brick houses. of origin, in others (Bukhara) the any authority known to us”. “Beshir prayer rugs in particular pl.101; Lefevre, London, 25 June clearly seen in the central medal- East ern Carpets, Munich 1978, dis- peti, Milan 1999, pl.111 = Rippon 12 Siawosch U. Azadi, Turkoman name refers to the place where the 14 Robert Pinner, in Wilfried are highly distinctive and have 1974, lot 12. lion of a large (2.5 x 5.0m) Beshir cussing pl.99, wrote “the red and Boswell, Wiesbaden, 12 November Carpets and the Ethnographic rugs came to market. She further Stanzer et al., Antique Oriental been associated by some authors 18 Amos Bateman Thacher, Turko - carpet advertised in HALI 3/2, 1980, dark brown shapes hanging from 1994, lot 93; Rippon Boswell, 11 Significance of Their Ornaments, states that pile weaving was not Carpets from Austrian Collections, such as Thacher with certain types man Rugs, New York 1940, pl.46. pp.70-71, with the statement: trees are, in our opinion, blossoms. May 1991, lot 125 = Skinner, Bol - Fishguard 1975. practiced in Bukhara and vicinity. Vienna 1986, pl.118, note 47, of Turkish rather than Turkoman 19 Werner Loges, Turkoman Tribal “This important ethnological her- The attempt to derive this figure ton, 24 April 1993, lot 61; HALI 77, 13 Elena Tsareva, Rugs and Car - Jones and Boucher, op.cit., add quoting his 1981 HALI article. prayer rugs”. Rugs, Atlantic Highlands 1980, p.91. itage, although long suspected, from East Turkestan-style pomegran- 1994, p.85 = Jennifer Wearden, pets from Central Asia: The Rus - that “regardless of the origin of the 15 Jon Thompson, in Mackie & 17 Herati pattern prayer rugs 20 Thacher, op.cit., pl.47. has not been clearly demonstrated ates does not seem convincing”. Oriental Carpets and Their Structure: sian Collections, Harmonds worth name, it appears that the rugs Thom pson, op.cit., p.187. include: Reinhard G. Hubel, The 21 Christopher Dunham Reed, T u r k - until now”. Not everyone, however, 22 Hans König, in Mackie & Thom- Highlights from the V&A 1984, p.6. Tsareva adds that while were not woven by a Beshir sub- 16 Jean Lefevre, Central Asian Book of Carpets, New York 1970, o man Rugs, Cambridge 1966, p.43. agrees on the subject of pome- pson, op.cit., p.199. Col lec tion, London 2003, pl.76;

78 HALI ISSUE 151 See www.hali.com for the full classification of Beshir prayer rugs HALI ISSUE 151 79 TURKMEN TRIBAL RUGS TURKMEN TRIBAL RUGS

10 Type 3-D Beshir 10 11 Pomegranates are an important motif in Beshir prayer rugs, 13 13 Type 3-D Beshir prayer rug [3.27], pointing to strong East Turkestan (Xinjiang) influence. They appear prayer rug [3.50], middle Amu Darya as a major field element in one specific prayer rug design type, and middle Amu Darya region, ca. 1825- as border motifs on many of the rugs. This frequent use of the pome- region, ca. 1800- 1850. 1.10 x 1.62m granate motif may be attributed both to the Middle Amu Darya 1825. 0.81 x 0.91m (3'7" x 5'4"). Cour - region’s relative proximity to Samarkand, and to the influence of (2'8" x 3'0"). Ralph tesy Rippon Bos - East Turkestan types, particularly those of Khotan. Thacher was & Linda Kaffel Col - well, Wiesbaden among the first of the collector/authors of the 20th century to asso- lection, Piedmont, 11 Type 3-D Beshir ciate the “hanging pomegranates” design with Chinese Turkestan,20 California, courtesy prayer rug [3.23], and he in turn was echoed by Christopher Dunham Reed.21 Ronnie Newman, middle Amu Darya König wrote that “the Ersari are the only Turkmen tribe to have Riudgewood, New region, ca. 1825- produced small prayer rugs”.22 This is not completely true. While Jersey 1850. 0.99 x 1.77m the great majority of Turkmen prayer rugs are ascribed to Beshir (3'3" x 5'10"). After and/or the Ersari, small prayer rugs of the Yomut, Chodor, Kizil Ayak Lefevre, London, 2 and Tekke tribes are also known.23 König also suggested that “earli- April 1976, lot 1 er prayer rugs seem to have been smaller than later ones, but further 12 Type 3-D Beshir comparisons are needed to establish this assumption as fact”. One of prayer rug [3.44], the largest and earliest Beshir prayer rugs known appears here as 1. middle Amu Darya In 1969, Ulrich Schürmann wrote that “Ersari prayer rugs com- region, second half mercially known as Beshir, belong to the most sought after collec- 19th century. Cour - tor’s pieces. Only a few examples have survived, being generally tesy Gallery Arab - rather loosely knotted”.24 Thacher wrote that “rugs of this type are esque, Stuttgart rare and when found are in poor condition. They are too loosely woven and are too soft and silky to stand much wear. None seem to have been woven for 75 years”25 (if true, 1855 would have been the 12 cut-off year). Dissenting from Schürmann and Thacher, Thompson CLASSIFICATION BY DESIGN wrote that “… a good number of these prayer rugs have survived”.26 The 140 Beshir-type prayer rugs for which I have data form the basis Early authors were, by and large, much too generous in their datings; for this classification by design. This is by no means an exhaustive for example, Major Hartley Clark, writing in 1922, considered his sample, but is undoubtedly representative (a full listing appears on prayer rug to be “150 years old”, which translates to the 1770s. 27 the hali.com website). There are 24 white-ground rugs with tree However, there is no evidence to suggest that any Beshir prayer rugs designs which I call Type 1 (divided into sub-types A-C); 56 Type 2 (with one possible exception) predate the 19th century. pomegranate design rugs; 54 Type 3 floral or shrub design rugs Pinner and Eiland, in their 1999 survey of the Wiedersperg (divided into sub-types A-D); and six unclassified rugs, excluding Collection, wrote that the prayer rugs were “the first Beshir-type safs (multiple-niche prayer carpets), which are not included in the rugs to command high prices at auction”.28 That is indeed true; for sample, but which are briefly mentioned below. instance a Beshir prayer rug prominently featured on the cover of Type 1-A consists of seven rugs [1.1-1.7], among them the famous a 1978 Sotheby’s New York catalogue, estimated at $4,000-5000, and much-published Dudin rug in St Petersburg [1.1], which is con- sold for $22,000. It was later shown by Eberhart Herrmann in his sidered to pre-date 1800 (HALI 27, 1985, p.14). It was bought by 1985 Munich exhibition ‘Rare Rugs of the Turkoman’.29 Samuil Dudin in Samarkand in 1901, and was assigned to Uzbek istan Structurally, Beshir prayer rugs are, as mentioned above, loosely as the work of the ‘Uzbek Beshir’ by Felkersam. Together with the knotted, with woollen pile. Some have goat hair wefts, occasion- other rugs in this small sub-group, including an unpublished exam- ally mixed with wool, and, less frequently, goat hair or mixed ple in the Dixon Collection 2, it has a white-ground covered with warps. The asymmetric knot open right is most often used, repeat ing clusters of curled leaves on slender winding stems or tend - although instances of asymmetric knotting open left are known.30 rils, described by Pinner as “bat shaped”,32 and compared by some The average knot count is about 72/in2 (ca. 1,116/dm2) with highs authors to the designs of suzani embroideries. Chevron-adorned of about 137 and lows of 46. The median size is approximately 3'’''5” poles or pillars are topped by kochak motifs, with the prayer arch by 6’0” (1.04 x 1.83m).31 formed by an inverted ‘V’, which itself is surmounted by a shorter

NOTES Dennis R. Dodds & Murray L. Collection, San Francisco 1999. op.cit, p.293 (Ersari or Uzbek); has eight colours versus Dudin’s examples the kochak-topped poles “…seems to be a part of an entire- referred to as the gapyrga motif. representing ‘Eight Heads’ or Eiland, eds., Oriental Rugs from 29 Sotheby’s New York, 7 April Peter Bausback, 75 Jahre Sam m- ten, and is not as finely woven. are attached to a mihrab, here they ly different tradition than the pome- 41 [2.15], see Ian Bennett, Rugs ‘Eight Gates’, is a “mysterious Atlantic Collec tions, Philadelphia 1978, lot 62 = HALI 26, 1985, p.89. lung Franz Bausback, Mannheim 35 Moshkova, op.cit., p.316, are free-standing. The Auction Price granate-type with its vari-colored and Carpets of the World, New ancient Turkic motif with a protec- 1996, pl.198. Chodor prayer rugs: 30 Asymmetric knot, open left: 2000, p.192; Sotheby’s, London, 29 pl.XCIX, fig.9. Guide review in HALI 64 questioned field.” It is possible that many of York 1977, p.167, with the same tive function... part of the traditional HALI 112, 2000, p.135; Murray L. Hans Elmby, Antike Turkmenske April 1998, lot 96; Christie’s, London, 36 [1.3], Christie’s, New York, 20 whether this was even a prayer rug. the Type 1-B rugs are products of border as note 40 above, flowering repertoire of Ersari weaving and is Eiland, Oriental Rugs: A Taepper IV, Copenhagen 1998, 17 October 2002, lot 141 = HALI April 1994, lot 26. Dated to the 18th 38 [1.13], see H. McCoy Jones & the Afghan Ersari. plants in a red mihrab and rosettes found in the centre of the Gölli göl”. Comprehensive Guide, Boston pl.50; Eberhart Herrmann, Seltene 124, 2002, p.51. century, but thick and coarsely Jeff W. Boucher, Weavings of the 40 [1.23], see Adil Besim, Mythos in the spandrels, but with the 43 [2.42], also [2:47], see Schür- 1981, pl.194A. Tekke prayer rug: Orientteppiche V, Munich 1983, 34 [1.2], see Spuhler, König, woven with a stiffness of the draw- Tribes in Afghanistan, Washington & Mystik 3, Vienna 2000, pl.64; unusual addition of octagons (besh mann 1969, op.cit., pl.46; Ulrich HALI 112, 2000, p.152. pl.85; Spuhler, König, Volkmann, Volkmann, op.cit, pl.98; HALI 3/1, ing that suggests a later date. DC 1972, pl.22. Phillips, London, 14 April 1986, lot ai medallions) in the spandrels. Schürmann, Orientteppiche, Wies - 24 Ulrich Schürmann, Central-Asian op.cit, pl.97. 1980, ad.p.4; HALI 30, 1986, p.2; Rugs with stylised quatrefoil ‘tile’ 39 [1.14], see Murray L. Eiland, 57; Phillips, London, 6 November 42 [2.42], see Jerome A. Straka & baden 1965, p.71; Otto Bernheimer, Rugs, Frankfurt 1969, pl.48. 31 See HALI 120, 2002, p.125, HALI 59, 1991, p.83; Eberhart borders include Christie’s, London, Oriental Rugs from Pacific Col - 1986, lot 21; Phillips, London, 22 Louise W. Mackie, The Oriental Rug Alte Teppiche des 16. bis 18. Jahr - 25 Thacher, op.cit., pl.47. discussing Sotheby’s, New York, Herrmann, Asiatische Teppich- und 24 April 1997, lot 422, and HALI 50, lections, San Francisco 1990, November 1988, lot 21; Rippon Collection of Jerome and Mary Jane hunderts der Firma L. Bernheimer, 26 Mackie & Thompson, op.cit., 14 September 2001 (rescheduled Textilkunst 3, 1991, p.83; Stanzer 1990, ad.pp.36-7. pl.154. Eiland’s caption refers to Boswell, Wiesbaden, 14 November Straka, New York 1978, p.43, pl.41, Munich 1959, no.114; Spuhler, notes to pl.85. to 20 September 2001), lot 55. et al., op.cit., pl.120; Uwe Jourdan, 37 [1.7], Phillips London, 16 June the Dudin rug, but the comparison 1992, lot 106. This rug appears to with the tumar band border and König, Volkmann, op.cit., pl.96. 27 Hartley Clark, Bokhara, Turko man 32 Wilfried Stanzer et al., Antique Oriental Rugs. Volume 5. Turkoman, 1992, lot 5, with curled leaves on is tenuous. The unusual feature be a somewhat later version of the red mihrab, has a kochak-topped One of the smallest of the group, and Afghan Rugs, London 1922. Oriental Carpets from Austrian 1996, pl.298. This early 19th century three vertical stems and an unusual here is the design of its branches, rugs cited in notes 38 and 39 above ‘head’ (see [2.1]). The red mihrab (4'2" x 2'11"), with a double serpen- 28 Robert Pinner & Murray L. Collections, Vienna 1986, p.120. piece is the closest comparison to border of octagons enclosing styl- with both pendant and ascendant [1.13, 1.14]. It has a border of is filled with segiz kelleh motifs tine band enclosing eight-pointed Eiland, Jr., Between the Black 33 A number of saf fragments are the Dudin rug [1.1], whose meander ised palmettes, also seen in HALI buds. It has a border of tiny geo- ‘Uzbek-type’ star octagons, refer - (a var iant of Moshkova p.278, flowerheads in the inner mihrab Desert and the Red: Turkmen extant, possibly all from the same border motif is replicated in the 63, 1992, p.62 and HALI 64, 1992, metric flowerheads. Eiland & red to as a variant of the tscharch pl.LXXVIII, no.5). According to and the outer ivory arch filled with Carpets from the Wiedersperg monumental carpet: Moshkova, outer lateral strips of the field. It p.168. While in four other related Eiland, op.cit, pl.230, state that it palak motif. The branched trees are Besim, op.cit., pl.63, this motif, small flowerheads. The outer bor-

80 HALI ISSUE 151 See www.hali.com for the full classification of Beshir prayer rugs HALI ISSUE 151 81 TURKMEN TRIBAL RUGS TURKMEN TRIBAL RUGS

14 central pillar. The Dixon rug [1.4] is the only example known to feat - The Type 2 prayer rug in 1, unknown prior to its appearance at ure a mihrab with five kochak-topped poles rather than the more usual Rippon Boswell in Wiesbaden in 1996, was subsequently resold at three. There is no ‘typical’ border for this sub-group. The Dudin rug Sotheby’s in New York in 2001. The largest rug in the group, it is has a scrolling vine border, also seen on a group of Beshir saf frag- also considered to be ‘best of type’ by the editors of HALI, by ments,33 while the Dixon rug has a border of ‘Uzbek-type’ Solomon Rippon Boswell’s Detlef Maltzahn, by Sotheby’s Mary Jo Otsea and stars within octagons. A rug very similar to the Dudin piece, formerly by the late Robert Pinner. In HALI’s Auction Price Guide it was in the Carlowicz Collection [1.2],34 has a much narrower meander stated that “it is unsurpassed in our experience in its quality of border,35 while other border motifs used include stylised quatrefoil drawing, proportions and clarity of colours, including the lumi- tiles [1.3],36 and unusual palmettes within octagons [1.7].37 nous red and white of the ground.” Writing in the on-line The 13 rugs comprising Type 1-B [1.8-1.20] feature single or multi- Cloudband magazine, Pinner stated that “the dominant white area of ple tree trunks on white grounds, usually with ascending or des - this beautiful rug is filled with small pomegranates, a symbol of cend ing blossoming branches. The trunks are usually surmounted fertility also found on a group of silk rugs attributed to Yarkand in Fig.1Type 3B Fig.2Type 3C Fig.3Type 3D by kochak motifs. Here too there is no ‘typical’ border as a wide neighbouring East Tukestan. The ‘head’ which broadens out at the Geometric flowers Segiz kelleh motif Flowering shrubs variety of designs is employed. Most examples of this group are top of the white mihrab carries a kochak (ram’s horns). Much rarer later than those of Type 1-A, and many could be the work of Afghan is the similar kochak-topped ‘head’ on the small red mihrab, which Ersaris. Indeed, one example with a single double-hooked topped is missing in most of the rugs of this group”. shrub type prayer rug 11 has a unique scalloped outer arch, and mihrab, a single gyjak-striped tree with ascending branches and The 54 Type 3 ‘floral’ design Beshir prayer rugs can be divided rosettes in the inner mihrab and spandrels [3.23]. Another 10 was pendant buds, and a border of ‘Uzbek-type’ star octagons was cata- into four sub-types. There are five Type 3-A double-hook design anointed ‘best of type’ in HALI [3.27].60 In 9, both mihrab and field logued as ‘Afghan’ by Jones and Boucher [1.13].38 To my eye, the most rugs [3.1-3.5], characterised by a large white-ground plant- or shrub- are filled with identical shrubs, and the spaces on either side of the aesthetically-pleasing example is a rug with a single tree and ascen- filled outer mihrab, which at the top splits into an oversized double mihrab are as wide as the mihrab itself [3.29]. The previously dant branches that once belonged to the Bay Area dealer Jay Jones, hook (kochak) or ram’s horn motif, in which the floral pattern of unpublished rug in 12 is one of a small sub-group of three with and was exhibited in ‘Oriental Rugs from Pacific Collections’ at Fort the ivory prayer arch is continued. The rug illustrated here 8 is disproportionately large ‘heads’ topping the mihrabs [3.42, 3.43, Mason during the 1990 ICOC in San Francisco [1.14].39 arguably the ‘best of sub-type’ [3.1], other examples of which are 3.44].61 Completing the flowering shrub group are 13, a very rare There are just four rugs of Type 1-C [1.21-1.24]. Like those of Type often late and unappealing. Borders of this sub-type are narrow and child’s prayer rug [3.50], and a possibly unique, reconstructed, ver- 1-B, they have branched, chevron-striped ‘trees’ on a white ground, simple, with either meandering vines or geometric flowerheads. tical format multiple-niche prayer rug or saf 14, which was cut up except that here the trees are topped by geometric ‘T’ shapes instead Type 3-B consists of nine prayer rugs [3.6-3.14] with simplified and offered singly by two different dealers and is now reunited in of kochaks. Three of the four have single prayer arches, one has twin geometric renditions of flowers or shrubs Fig.1, also known from the Dixon Collection [3.52].62 prayer arches [1.23].40 In two cases the borders are formed by boxed the secular repertoire of the Ersari. This motif is illustrated by Six rugs in my sample are unclassified [U1-6]. All have designs ashik güls, while in 3 the border is formed by boxed stars [1.24]. Stone,49 and is known from compartment or chequerboard rugs with that do not fit into any of the three basic types. For the sake of The common denominator for the 56 Type 2 pomegranate an endless repeat pattern.50 It is also used as a border ornament.51 As clarity it should also be noted that some peripherally related design Beshir prayer rugs [2.1-2.56] in my sample is the large white with Type 1-B rugs, some of the group have been attributed to the prayer rugs are not included in this survey, as they are of a very dif- outer mihrab filled with pomegranates suspended from branches. Afghan Ersari. Three in particular [3.7, 3.8, 3.9]52 are closely related to ferent design discipline from the rugs discussed here. I have not attempted to sub-divide this group because, aside from a drawing in the original Russian edition of Moshkova.53 However, two such peripheral groups in particular deserve pass- the common thread of pomegranate motifs, there are too many The eight floral rugs of Type 3-C [3.15-3.22] have the so-called ing mention. The first consists of rugs with all-over patterns of variations for well-defined sub-types to emerge. For example, in segiz kelleh motif Fig.2, which, as with Type 3-B rugs, is also shared various small motifs, including triangles in contrasting colours 1, the inner mihrab and the spandrels are filled with a variety of with secular Ersari weavings.54 In the past rugs with this motif have (evoking animal pelts), botehs, stepped diamonds, and stars, upon flowering shrubs and plants [2.1], while in 4 the inner mihrab and not been viewed with particular favour by the editors of HALI; for which are superimposed, in some cases, multiple linear prayer spandrels feature rosettes or roundels [2.17]. In other rugs, both are example a rug published in Lefevre’s Central Asian Carpets [3.19]55 arches. These rugs originate with the Afghan Ersaris, rather than present [2.15].41 Some examples have triangular bands added to the was described as “an ugly example of the ugliest type of Beshir from the Middle Amu Darya. They are exemplified by a much- spandrels, in one instance the inner mihrab contains the segiz kelleh prayer rug”.56 published and well-travelled rug,63 variously attributed to the motif [2.42],42 and in two cases [2.46, 2.47] a serpentine band 5.43 Type 3-D prayer rugs, with their design of flowering shrubs Ersari, Ersari-Beshir and Chodor, while closely similar rugs have In contrast to the borders of Beshir main carpets, which are Fig.3 comprise the largest (32 examples) and most representative been unambiguously attributed to the Ersari. often wide and elaborately complex, the borders of Type 2 rugs are sub-group of the floral types [3.23-3.54]. The plants and flowering The second group, much rarer, consists of horizontal format 14 Type 3-D Beshir 1.35 x 1.38m predominantly narrow and feature simple motifs. The most popular shrubs depicted are more complex, naturalistic and botanically safs (multiple niche prayer carpets), of which there are two basic prayer rug [3.52], (4'5" x 4'6"). variant shows either a repeating pomegranate motif 1, or a variant correct that those of Type 3-B. As with both of the preceding sub-types: multi-level white-ground safs, attributed to the Ersari middle Amu Darya Jim Dixon Collec - of the pomegranate motif, not shown in Moshkova’s catalogue of types, secular rugs are known with this motif in a chequerboard or the Uzbeks, such as the piece illustrated on the cover of the region, ca. 1850. t ion, Occidental, Beshir borders, that Peter Stone calls the “circle and cross” motif.44 field layout.57 A rare and interesting variant of the plant motif is English edition of Moshkova’s Carpets of the People of Central Asia, as Each fragment California Other popular borders feature rosettes [2.22],45 or f lowerheads seen on a rug published by Eberhart Herrmann.58 Another unusual well as a number of different fragments, some perhaps from the [2.34],46 as well as the tumar band of reciprocal triangles [2.35],47 rug with an all-over pattern of these plants in both field and bor- same rug.64 The second sub-type are safs attributed to the Ersari- and, more rarely, lozenges, serrated leaves, double botehs, mean- der may or may not be perceived as a prayer rug.59 Many Type 2 Beshir, such as an example from the Straka Collection,65 and a large dering vines, and the sary gyra motif [2.45].48 border patterns are also used on rugs in this group. An unusual saf that has been offered several times at auction.66

NOTES der has remnants of the floral baden, 10 November 1990, lot 150, 20 May 1995, lot 11, with plants in 51 See Rippon Boswell, Wies baden, pl.LXXXIX, no.12. [3.9], see Man - among the ‘Tulip motifs’ in Stone, 60 [3.27], see HALI 106, 1999, op.cit., p.119; Julius Orendi, Das lozenge motif (see [2.46]), while and Sotheby’s, New York, 16 Dec - the spandrels and red mihrab. 30 May 1992, lot 122, and 28 Sep- gisch, Zurich, 18 March 1989, lot op.cit., p.294, no.T-27. p.140. Gesamt wissen uber Antike und the inner mihrab is framed by a em ber 2005, lot 65, with octofoil 48 [2.45], see Skinner, Boston, 6 tember 1996, lot 7. 2070, and 3 June 1989, lot 3140, 55 [3.19], see Lefevre, op.cit, no.17 61 [3.44], the other two are [3.42], Neue Tep piche des Orients, vol.II, repeat of the inner meander border. rosettes in the border, red mihrab December 1997, lot 119, with outer 52 [3.7], see Sotheby’s, New York, similar to the above, the border = Lefevre, London, 8 October 1976, from the Wher Collection (Black, Vienna 1930, pl.1027; Eiland 1981, The extensive use of blue and and spandrels, triangular bands in circle and cross border, triangular 3 June 2005, lot 26; HALI 57, 1991, showing a smaller scale plant repeat. lot 17; Christie’s, London, 15 Octo- op.cit., p.174), and [3.43], see Peter op.cit., pl.194a; HALI 2/2, 1979, black is a very unusual feature. the spandrels, and small plants in bands and small pyramid-like floral p.154, with horizontal plant forms 53 Moshkova 1970, op.cit, ber 1987, lot 56; Nagel, Stuttgart, Hoffmeister, Turkoman Carpets in p.133; Pinner & Eiland op.cit., pl.51. 44 A diagram of this border motif the upper sections of the spandrels. motifs in the red mihrab and span- in the mihrab and ‘double comb’ pl.LXXXIX, no.12. 23 June 1993, lot 3208. Franconia, Edinburgh 1980, pl.21. 64 See Christie’s, London, 17 appears in Peter Stone, Tribal and 46 [2.34], see Tsareva, op.cit., drels. For the rare sary gyra (Ersari) talismanic outer border. [3.8], see 54 See, e.g., the infinite repeat grid 56 See HALI 41, 1988, p.89. 62 [3.52]. Offered, still complete, by October 2002, lot 141; Sotheby’s, Village Rugs: The Definitive Guide pl.100, with a flowerhead border (a or ak gyra (Chodor) border, see Edelmann, New York, 10 November pattern rugs in: Spuhler, König, 57 See Loges, op.cit., pl.91; Soth- Mustafa Solak on cloud band.com; London, 29 April 1998, lot 96; and to Design, Pattern and Motif, New variant of the darak motif). Tsareva Loges, op.cit, pl.89. 1979, lot 145, similar to [3.5] and Volkmann, op.cit., pl.95; Mackie & eby’s, New York, 9 October 1998, then by Nagel, Stuttgart on 6 Nov - Bausback 2000, op.cit., p.192. York 2004, p.305, no.T-50, but I calls the horizontal flowering bran - 49 Stone, op.cit,, p.294, no.T-27. [3.6], with a strange, elaborate and Thompson, op.cit., p.201, fig.64; lot 1361 (Howard Feldman Collec- ember 2001; then, separated, by 65 Straka, op.cit., p.45, pl.XL. cannot locate a specific name for ches in the spandrels and red mihrab 50 E.g., Eberhart Herrmann, Sel tene atypical border, and zig-zag bands Ulrich Schürmann, Oriental Car pets, tion) = HALI 113, 2000, p.114. Ziya Bozoglu in 2002 and by 66 See Christie’s, New York, 9 April it, despite its great popularity. In “twinned, stylized toothed leaves”. Orientteppiche IV, Munich 1982, in spandrels, assigned to Afghan- London 1966, p.217; Rippon Bos- 58 Eberhart Herrmann, Seltene Ronnie Newman in 2004. 1988, lot 79; Skinner, Boston, 20 my opinion it represents two views 47 [2.35], see Pinner & Eiland, no.92; Seltene Orientteppiche IX, istan: these three rugs relate closely well, Wiesbaden, 18 November Orientteppiche II, Munich 1979, 63 See Walter A. Hawley, Oriental April 2002, lot 54; Sotheby’s, of the pomegranate. op.cit., pl.75; Eiland & Eiland, op.cit., Munich 1987, pl.89; Jones & Bou - to a drawing in the Russian edition 1995, lot 97 = HALI 85, 1996, no.99. Rugs, Antique and Modern, New London, 28 September 2005, lot 45 [2.22], see Rippon Boswell, Wies - pl.232; Rippon Boswell, Wies baden, cher 1975, op.cit, pl.24. of Moshkova, Tashkent 1970, p.140. This motif also appears 59 HALI 2/2, 1979, p.169. York 1913, pl.57; Hartley Clark, 27; and Jourdan, op.cit., pl.297.

82 HALI ISSUE 151 See www.hali.com for the full classification of Beshir prayer rugs HALI ISSUE 151 83