This chuval‘s most striking feature is the elaborate chemche secondary guls, with two diagonal arms in each quadrant, instead of the usual one. We have dubbed them “super chemches.” They also occur in an otherwise different chuval in the Risman collection. In our piece they dwarf the primary guls. Other unusual features are the elem design, the electric turquoise in the secondary borders and gul interiors, and the overall dark palette. An altogether “different” piece. It has been suggested that the 3x4 gul arrangement, the drawing of the guls, and the open-left weave together support an attribution to the Ali Eli tribe of the Amu Darya valley.
 

Structural Data:

Online Exhibition:

Rare and Unusual Turkmen Pile Weavings