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Lot Essay
There still remains a question as to when and under what circumstances Salor main carpets were woven. However, what is clear from the surviving examples is that a strict formula was closely observed by the weavers, and clearly understood and highly respected by the recipients of such carpets (Elena Tsareva, Turkmen Carpets: The Neville Kingston Collection, 2016, p.29). The stability of the design repertoire is continued here in a display of six rows of twelve typical Salor guls interspersed with smaller octagonal motifs, within a stepped cruciform border. The magenta silk highlights in these decorative elements against the scarlet-red ground contributes to the unusual beauty of these weavings.
The luxurious wool and the technical consistency displayed by the group has led many to believe that they were woven in workshops owned by the tribe. Mackie and Thompson note that the exceptional workmanship of these carpets, along with the luxurious materials themselves, would have been costly and serve as a reminder of the great wealth of the Central Asian tribes (Turkmen: Tribal carpets and traditions, 1980, p.69). The example published by Mackie and Thompson, formerly part of the Leslie and Elisabeth Leifer collection, itself went on to achieve a world record when it was sold by the Austria Auction Company, Vienna, 16 September 2014, lot 125 (see HALI, Winter 2014, no. 182, p.153). A Salor main carpet also displaying 6 columns of twelve guls was sold at Rippon Boswell, 19 May 2012, lot 158.
Further Salor main carpets are in notable collections including one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc.no. 1974.149.46), in the Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg (Elena Tsareva, Teppiche aus Mittelasien und Kasachstan. Leningrad, 1984, no. 3), and another published in Antique Oriental Carpets from Austrian Collections, 1986, pl. 103.
The luxurious wool and the technical consistency displayed by the group has led many to believe that they were woven in workshops owned by the tribe. Mackie and Thompson note that the exceptional workmanship of these carpets, along with the luxurious materials themselves, would have been costly and serve as a reminder of the great wealth of the Central Asian tribes (Turkmen: Tribal carpets and traditions, 1980, p.69). The example published by Mackie and Thompson, formerly part of the Leslie and Elisabeth Leifer collection, itself went on to achieve a world record when it was sold by the Austria Auction Company, Vienna, 16 September 2014, lot 125 (see HALI, Winter 2014, no. 182, p.153). A Salor main carpet also displaying 6 columns of twelve guls was sold at Rippon Boswell, 19 May 2012, lot 158.
Further Salor main carpets are in notable collections including one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (acc.no. 1974.149.46), in the Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg (Elena Tsareva, Teppiche aus Mittelasien und Kasachstan. Leningrad, 1984, no. 3), and another published in Antique Oriental Carpets from Austrian Collections, 1986, pl. 103.