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Lot Essay
The word shadda is a derivative of the Arabic word asidda, which translates as "riding saddle for camels", leaving some ambiguity as to whether this refers either to the featured design or their apparent function as saddle blankets (James D. Burns Visions of Nature, New York, 2010, pp.96-7, pl.27). The term is most commonly applied to flatweaves produced in the Karabagh region which use a particular extra-weft wrapping and brocading when applying the ornamented design onto the material. Used primarily as horse blankets, they also served as decorative partitions within the tents of the Shahsevan tribes on ceremonial occasions.
The present lot is striking in its colouring, scale and in the wonderfully open spacing of its design. More frequently woven on a blue and red ground, (see lot 269 in the same sale), the present lot is woven on a dark walnut-brown wool ground that accentuates the colours of the large scale figures and animals. Early examples woven in the late 18th or early 19th century display only seven or eight figures per row, unlike the later 19th century examples where it is not uncommon to see as many as twenty figures on each, making the overall appearance very crowded. The openly spaced design of the present lot is filled with six rows of seven figures; three displaying a horse carrying a rider with a hawk upon his arm, accompanied by a dog; and three rows of camels that are led at the front by a man who has tied his animals together with the aid of a red and white rope. Smaller animals, perhaps goats or sheep, follow freely beside. These figurative images illustrate the importance of animals within the daily lives of the people in the region. Camels were highly valued and were an essential means of transporting heavy goods through difficult terrain but could also provide a family with milk, hair to weave bedding or blankets and meat if the animal were to die or be killed. The image of the camel appeared in other trappings such as a Yomud asmalyk illustrated by Eberhart Herrmann, Von Uschak Bis Yarkand, Munich, 1979, p.141, pl.92. That asmalyk also displays the same border pattern of linked inverted paired hooks as on the present lot, which also appears on other Turkmen weavings.
Most shadda are significantly smaller in size than the present lot which would suggest that this was to be used for an important ceremony such as a wedding or to be part of a brides' dowry. The closest example to the present lot which has a greater profusion of small individual flower heads and smaller animals, and has the same clarity of drawing upon a rich brown ground, was formerly in the Wher collection, Switzerland, (Herrmann, Seltene Orientteppiche VIII, Munich, Wiesbaden, 1986 pp.126-128, No. 55; Ignacio Vok, Rippon Boswell, Selection 2, 12 March 2016, lot 128).
The present lot is striking in its colouring, scale and in the wonderfully open spacing of its design. More frequently woven on a blue and red ground, (see lot 269 in the same sale), the present lot is woven on a dark walnut-brown wool ground that accentuates the colours of the large scale figures and animals. Early examples woven in the late 18th or early 19th century display only seven or eight figures per row, unlike the later 19th century examples where it is not uncommon to see as many as twenty figures on each, making the overall appearance very crowded. The openly spaced design of the present lot is filled with six rows of seven figures; three displaying a horse carrying a rider with a hawk upon his arm, accompanied by a dog; and three rows of camels that are led at the front by a man who has tied his animals together with the aid of a red and white rope. Smaller animals, perhaps goats or sheep, follow freely beside. These figurative images illustrate the importance of animals within the daily lives of the people in the region. Camels were highly valued and were an essential means of transporting heavy goods through difficult terrain but could also provide a family with milk, hair to weave bedding or blankets and meat if the animal were to die or be killed. The image of the camel appeared in other trappings such as a Yomud asmalyk illustrated by Eberhart Herrmann, Von Uschak Bis Yarkand, Munich, 1979, p.141, pl.92. That asmalyk also displays the same border pattern of linked inverted paired hooks as on the present lot, which also appears on other Turkmen weavings.
Most shadda are significantly smaller in size than the present lot which would suggest that this was to be used for an important ceremony such as a wedding or to be part of a brides' dowry. The closest example to the present lot which has a greater profusion of small individual flower heads and smaller animals, and has the same clarity of drawing upon a rich brown ground, was formerly in the Wher collection, Switzerland, (Herrmann, Seltene Orientteppiche VIII, Munich, Wiesbaden, 1986 pp.126-128, No. 55; Ignacio Vok, Rippon Boswell, Selection 2, 12 March 2016, lot 128).