A PART-SILK TEKKE EMBROIDERED ASMALYK
A PART-SILK TEKKE EMBROIDERED ASMALYK
A PART-SILK TEKKE EMBROIDERED ASMALYK
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These lots have been imported from outside the EU … Read more
A PART-SILK TEKKE EMBROIDERED ASMALYK

WEST TURKEMNISTAN, LATE 19TH CENTURY

Details
A PART-SILK TEKKE EMBROIDERED ASMALYK
WEST TURKEMNISTAN, LATE 19TH CENTURY
One of a pair, a few faint surface spot marks, worn pink silk highlights, overall very good condition
5ft.2in. x 2ft.9in. (157cm. x 84cm.), including kilims
Special notice
These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction. Specified lots (sold and unsold) marked with a filled square not collected from Christie’s by 5.00 pm on the day of the sale will, at our option, be removed to Cadogan Tate. Christie’s will inform you if the lot has been sent offsite. Our removal and storage of the lot is subject to the terms and conditions of storage which can be found at Christies.com/storage. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Cadogan Tate Ltd. All collections will be by pre-booked appointment only. Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 9060 Email: cscollectionsuk@christies.com. If the lot remains at Christie’s it will be available for collection on any working day 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Lots are not available for collection at weekends.

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Jason French
Jason French

Lot Essay

Turkmen embroidered asmalyks are among the most beautiful and enigmatic of all tribal trappings and echo both in design and technique the embroidered suzani textiles of Uzbekistan. They were used predominantly in ceremonial processions; the commonly found white ground being associated in the Turkmen tradition with weddings and matrimonial fertility (J. Thompson, Oriental Carpets: From the Tents, Cottages and workshops of Asia, New York, 1983, p.100). Typically the asmalyks decorated either side of the bride’s camel in a pentagonal or rectangular form and were therefore often woven in pairs, accounting for the remarkable similarity between this and the following lot. Little is known about this group of embroideries and their dating and attribution has often been largely the preserve of educated guesswork. At the beginning of the 20th century Samuil Dudin acquired an embroidered asmalyk in Merv at the same time as the Tekke were there and as a result credited it to them. Michael Franses corroborates this attribution, citing their relationship to the Tekke chyrpe, or wedding coat, in terms of both technique and palette (M. Franses, ‘Embroidered Tekke Asmalyk’, Turkoman Studies I, London, 1980, pp.164-171). In Danny Shaffer and Penny Oakley’s article 'Recognition and reconsideration' (Hali 180, pp.125-127) thirteen different types of embroidered asmalyk are identified, showing the wide variety of designs within the group. Frequently encountered motifs include the iris, undertaken in the present lot in a corroded pink cochineal dyed silk, interspersed among a plethora of drop flowers. Many examples also include animals and figures pertaining to the wedding ceremony; the portrayal of a traditionally dressed bride and groom linking arms in this and the following lot is a particularly charming addition. A closely related example, although lacking these figures, is published in Eberhart Herrmann, Seltene Orientteppiche IX, Munich, 1987, no.87, p.191.

For a list of further examples of the group please see ‘Auction Price Guide’, Hali 136, September-October 2004, p.118-119.

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