Lot Essay
According to Uwe Jourdan, Turkoman, Volume 5, Augsburg, 1989, p.74, there are very few early Saryk pieces surviving. The present lot has a light warm fox-red field containing Temirdshen guls which together are found in the earliest published examples dating from the eighteenth century. Similar examples are published in Werner Loges, Turkoman Tribal rugs, Munich, 1980, No.24. and Robert Pinner, The Rickmers Collection, Tukoman Rugs, Berlin, 1993, p.23, no.2. Another example with the same field and border design as ours is published in Wie Blumen in der Wuste, exhibition catalogue, Hamburg, ICOC, 1993, No.104. pp.156-7. In the caption the Hamburg rug has been given the extremely early date of 17th century by Siawosch Azadi although that is possibly a little optimistic. A further similar example was sold at Rippon Boswell, 20 November 1999, lot 98.