First half 19th century, 37 x 25 x 78 cm, Central Asia, West Turkestan

Small-format knotted trappings of this kind were only woven by the Tekke tribe. On the wedding day, a khalyk would be attached to the opening of the veiled litter in which the bride, mounted on a camel, was led to the groom’s family. Guarded as textile treasures and only used again at weddings, khalyks have often survived in good condition. Seeing that they were precious traditional objects of a highly symbolic nature, it is not surprising that nearly all of the circa 100 khalyks currently known are of excellent quality. – Over the past few decades, Rippon Boswell has probably sold more khalyks than any other auction house. This example of outstanding quality displays the same ornamentation as lot 114 of our auction A 98. Only the triangular flap at the lower end of the horizontal panel shows a different design. – Two stitched vertical tears, otherwise in very good condition, with a high pile, the original finishes all around and the fringe of long decorative tassels.

PINNER, ROBERT, The Rickmers Collection. Turkoman Rugs. Berlin 1993, no. 44 *** PINNER, ROBERT & FRANSES, MICHAEL, Turkoman Studies I. London 1980, ill. 395 *** TZAREVA, ELENA, Teppiche aus Mittelasien und Kasachstan. Leningrad 1984, no. 39 *** Khalyks bei Rippon Boswell: FFM 10, 15/11/80, # 133 *** FFM 15, 15/05/82, # 81 *** FFM 16, 20/11/82, # 84 *** FFM 20, 10/11/84, # 71 *** A 29, 06/05/89, # 70 *** A 35, 28/03/92, # 119 *** A 39, 13/11/93, # 106 *** A 44, 11/05/96, # 59 *** A 46, 16/11/96, # 86 *** A 48, 22/11/97, # 149 *** A 57, 17/11/2001, # 38 *** A 62, 15/05/2004, # 37 and # 65 *** A 65, 28/05/2005, # 142 *** A 84, 31/05/2014, # 127 *** A 85, 29/11/2014, # 110 *** A 89, 28/05/2016, # 199 *** A 98, 27 June 2020, # 114