Ersari Asmalyk - Seven Sided, Turkmenistan mid 19th century
2ft. 2in. x 4ft. 9in. 66 x 145 cm
Condition: overall very good condition with very good pile, the lower left corner and edge is ragged, the lower right corner is a bit ragged as is the peak of the triangular upper portion of the asmalyk.
Provenance: South Amu Darya or North Afghanistan.
Age: Mid 19th Century
Size: 02’ 02†x 04’ 09â€
Knot type: Asymmetrical, open right, z2. hor: sq. inch: 8 80 vert: 10
Warp: z2s. Natural dark ivory and mixed browns goat hair combination. Slightly depressed.
Weft: z. Natural light tans and mixed light browns camel hair. Two passes.
Sides: Single cord selvage consisting of two z2s (2) warp groups. Overcast with tile red (lower 7â€) or mahogany red wool (z3 & 4).
Ends: Bottom - Balanced plain weave. ½†dark tile red wool (z2) and ¾†dark ivory tan camel hair (?) folded over. Symmetrically knotted (over 4 warps) decorative fringe. Medium indigo and teal wool. ¾†to 2†extant. Top - Weft face (dark tile red) plain weave (1â€) folded over with ½†mahogany red and 1†medium camel hair at the back. A teal and mahogany red chevron slant stitch repair yarn stripe is at the folded edge. Edging the peak of the asmalyk is ½†medium camel hair weft face plain weave folded over with 1†at the back.
Colors: (14) Plum red, mahogany red, ivory, teal, dark indigo, medium indigo, dark mahogany, orange, tangerine, yellow ocher, reddish orange, lemon yellow, orange red (tin mordant Madder?), teal green.
Design: In the field on an ivory ground are offset vertical rows of boxes, each having a kotchak appendage top and bottom and containing a polychrome four hexagon blossom. Each hexagon contains a fine cruciform blossom. The reciprocal is reminiscent of a Saryk gul. The main border has a serrated leaf and bar stripe diagonal meander that forms a triangular reciprocal. This border is rendered as a saw tooth variant in the triangular upper section of the asmalyk. The inner guard stripe is a polychrome slant bar or bar motif and the outer guard stripe is an alternating box and "X" blossom repeat.
References: HALI Vol. 4 No. 2, p. 29, Robert Muller advert, HALI Vol. 13 No. 6, Issue 60, p. 74, Phillips Auction, London, Feb. 11, 1992, estimate £3,000-£5,000. Exhibited: TRIBAL TREASURES, Bruce Museum, Greenwich, CT, May 15 - Sept. 11, 1994. Exhibited: Eighth ICOC, Philadelphia, PA, November 1996, ANTIQUE TRIBAL RUGS, Published: Dodds,D., ORIENTAL RUGS FROM ATLANTIC COLLECTIONS, Philadelphia 1996, p 203, Pl 245
Condition: Overall very good condition with very good pile. The lower left corner and edge is ragged. The lower right corner is a bit ragged as is the peak of the triangular upper portion of the asmalyk.

Condition: overall very good condition with very good pile, the lower left corner and edge is ragged, the lower right corner is a bit ragged as is the peak of the triangular upper portion of the asmalyk.