Yomud Chuval Early 19thC. A-Bey on eBay

JBOC Attribution: Oriental Rugs, Turkmen Rugs, Yomut Rugs, Yomut Juval


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Hello,

I am intrigued by an a-bey rug on eBay:

EARLY 19th Yomud chuval oriental rug ZZ a-bey

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=325268134

It looks older than Jim says. Look at all the offset knotting in the field. That is a camp piece not the work of a settled weaver. What if the spacing is only a facet of age and not definitive. Could weaving irregularities be an indicator of age. Why can't this Juval be 1750 rather than 1820 - 1830. I think a problem in judging these is that Yomud is not a group but at least 3 and maybe 6 different distinct weaving groups.

Three facets stand out as indicating to me that this is an old piece:

On the guard borders the outer guard is dark blue and the Inner guard is light blue.
The weaver has used significant amounts of offset knotting in the field to set the angles of the guls to give the Juval an air of three dimensionality.
The offset knotting to affect angle indicates to me that it pre-dates the commercial period. Fraser indicated that much of the Turkmen weaving was commercial as early as 1820. Wright, In Search of Turkmen Carpets

Jim's description: Here is a fine purple group Yomud chuval from circa 1820-1840 measuring 26 X 46 inches. The elem is very interesting in the range of plum colored hues arrayed across its surface and the wildly zoomorphic designs which seem to crawl over it. There is an electric blue and a strong madder red. The field is a dark plum. There is considerable irregularity in the weave from handspun wool in the wefts. It is symmetrically knotted at approximately 160 KSI. The minor gull is done especially well and has an interesting affective presence.

If anyone spots an interesting rug for sale on the internet let me know and I may review it.

Best wishes,
Barry

For Further Reading:

Guide to Oriental Rugs & Books

Persian rt and Miniatures

JBOC's Notes on the Bible

Southwest Asia Time Line