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In Turkmen weaving, the torba was a shallow,
rectangular bag, smaller in size than the squarer chuval, and larger
than the mafrash. For the Tekke, many torba - this one certainly
included - display very high wool quality, more lavish use of exotic
colors, and very fine drawing. In the West, the quality and fineness
often lead them to be described as dowry pieces, though there is
little direct evidence to support this interpretation of their
creation.
According to David Reuben1,
there are three design families for 6-Gul Tekke torbas. The first
has elongated centers, with a small rectangle at the very center.
The second has rosettes at the gul centers. And the third family, to
which this piece belongs, is the most variable. This particular
torba illustrates some of the many design variations that occur. The
center of the gul has an eight-pointed star, not found in other
examples. Other aspects of the major gul are very unusual, with a
parallelogram in each quarter of the major gul – most other examples
have a square, or possibly multiple small shapes.
The design rarities continue throughout the rest of this torba. The
chemche minor gul also carries the 8-pointed white star at its
center. And the presence of a “tertiary gul” – three small white
diamonds arrayed vertically – is also atypical. The border has
several uncommon elements, too. The main hook figure in the border
is quite is rare, though there are other published examples.2
The minor border is even more unusual, with a striking figure within
a white square alternating with a square that appears dark on first
viewing. Upon examining these dark, “spacer” squares more closely,
one can see that in the horizontal borders, there is a colorful “x”
figure within each square, and in the vertical direction, the square
consists of two equal triangles, one dark and the other colored. It
is this type of design creativity within a seemingly very prescribed
format that distinguishes the great weaver and weaving, and sets the
Turkmen collector’s pulse racing.
JA
1) Reuben, D., Gols and Guls,
London, (1998)
2) LeFevre, J., Central Asian Carpets,
London, 1976, plate 5, and Elmby, Antique Turkmen Carpets IV,
Copenhagen, 1998, pl. 7
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