Early Tekke Main Carpet

288 x 210 cm (9' 5" x 6' 11")
Turkmenistan, ca. 1800 or before
Condition: very good for its age, low pile in places, scattered small repairs
Provenance: ex Hans-Christian Sienknecht collection
Warp: wool, weft: wool, pile: wool

Tekke main carpets are the quintessential classics of Turkmen carpet-weaving. In English, they used to be referred to as the "Gentleman's Library Carpet." However, they come in quite varying qualities. As early as 1900, travelers to Turkmenistan complained that no good pieces were available locally anymore.
Our wonderfully colored piece features 4 x 10 well-rounded Tekke guls on a warm red ground, surrounded by Chemche guls. The main border, however, is very unusual. At the top and bottom, it shows abstract flowers in boxes with a white ground, and in the other boxes, the Chajkelbagi motif. See also the tent band fragment in this auction. Remarkably, two of these are depicted in the upper left corner. On the long sides, they can also be interpreted as intersecting wave-like tendrils.
However, in his magnum opus "Turkmen Carpets" on pages 809 - 820, Jürg Rageth interprets the motif as an ancient protective symbol dating back to pre-Islamic times. Moshkova writes that the name of the motif originates from the Tekke and is associated with women's adornment. This border appears in a small group of early Tekke main carpets, but occasionally also in other pieces, such as an Arabatchi carpet in Hali 191 on page 121.
You don't need a "Gentleman's library" to appreciate this classic, and the border provides intellectual food for thought in addition to the carpet's aesthetic appeal.

Estimate: € 8000 - 12000