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Monday 18 March 2013

Eagle Group Primer

1





In 1908 General Bogolyubov,in the descriptions to his carpet album,inadvertenly christened one of two main carpets an “Eagle” design.



2





The  carpets have gone astray,but a year later Neugebauer & Orendi published a further example in black and white.

3-Neugebauer-Orendi,1909- plate 138 (Eagle Group I)

The Neugebauer piece has suffered palpably over the years,being now reduced to a small number of fragments,which were eventually rescued by Hans Elmby in Denmark.


4-Hali 2-4-340






Grote-Hasenbalg bemoaned the lack of available examples in his 1930 Opus. The world had to wait for Joseph McMullan`s collection in 1965 and the first publication of  an adequate colour reproduction.

5-McMullan plate 123(Eagle Group I)









Group I.

This consists of seven examples.Technically,they are distinguished by a first weft of red wool and red silk loosely plied together.The silk/wool mix was presumably dyed together in one vat.The second weft comprises natural coloured undyed brown wool.Knotting is Persian,open to the left,and the pile yarn is invariably 3-ply.

The design layout features three rows of vertical eagle Göls by 4 in the horizontal.

The typical Lotus-Palmette border(for such it is) faces in one direction on four examples,and opposed on three others.

Most Group I  carpets have not been spared the injustice of ageing.The Reitlinger is surely one of the most austere Turkmen carpets ever woven.

6-Ashmolean Museum-Hali 32-25





The John Phillips piece published in "Turkmen"has survived intact,and illustrates the wildly varying Chroma of these carpets in reproduction. 

7-Turkmen,plate 56



8-Phillips,Hali 3-3-228







9-Hoffmeister Collection,88

A last example was published by Giuseppe Cohen in 1968


10-Cohen,Il Fascino del Tappeto Orientale,XCV





Group II.



As with the group I carpets,the second group consists of rows of Eagle Göls aligned between alternating rows of Dyrnak.In the second group the order is reversed,and four vertical rows feature a row of three Göls.Borders display a reversing Lotus Palmette,and in three cases a meander border with simple flower petal and scallops.A wide trefoil border guard is de rigeur.Technically the Group II carpets employ a weft of wool/cotton followed by brown wool.Knotting is Persian open right.The Group II rugs are less finely knotted than the Group I.

16 examples and two fragments are known,of which 9 have appeared at auction.

The much travelled and strangely disfigured example sold at Sothebys in 1980 was auctioned for £ 4100 pounds,but on return a year later brought only£2860.These were still considerable sums at that time.At some point the piece was with Bausback,Mannheim,but re-appeared at Sothebys in 1986(Islamic sale 16.4.1986-Lot 478,estimate £1500-2000 result unknown )Its last public appearance was at Sothebys  NY on 13 September 1995,where it sold for $14,375

11-Sothebys house-guest has lost 3 rows of dyrnak

A carpet offered at Sothebys NY in 1984 failed to attract a single bid,despite a low estimate of $5/6000

12-Sothebys NY 1 December 1984-Lot 6


An example sold at Rippon Boswell in 1992 achieved the top price for this group.From the Ryder Collins Collection,it had previously been exhibited at the San Francisco ICOC in 1990,and published in the accompanying catalogue(Oriental Rugs in Pacific Collections,Nr.72)It was praised by Hali as BOT,and sold accordingly for $112,035.

13-RB 28 March 1992-Lot 142


The following year a carpet later with Herbert Ostler in Munich sold at Nagels for $30,300(23 June 1993-Lot 3195).The carpet was later with Sailer.It is the only example with an intact knotted elem panel, not unlike the missing Bogolubov piece.

14-Ostler,Weltkunst 15 August 1986,page 2174


In 1994 and 1995 the German Collector Werner Loges attempted to sell his piece,first at a purpose-built collector sale at Sothebys  on 19 October 1994(Lot 23),and then again at Sothebys on 26 April 1995(Lot 117),but with no luck.The carpet eventually sold at Nagels Stuttgart on 27 March 2012(Lot 29) for $17,690


Auction prices have been steadily rising.Sothebys London sold the piece which eventually entered the Wiedersperg Collection on 24 April 1996 for $38,205.It was said by Hali to have had all-cotton wefts,but the Wiedersperg catalogue gives wool/cotton.

15-Wiedersperg 28


In the same year Bukowskis in Stockholm auctioned the famed Faberge rug for $48,410.It is remarkable for its pristine condition

16-Bukowskis 29 November 1996-lot 1257

More than seven years elapsed until a Group II carpet appeared at Rippon Boswells in 2004,selling for $74,205.The piece had been sourced in England

17-Rippon Boswell 15 May 2004-Lot 74

And a further item appearing at the same auction house three years later confirmed that Wiesbaden is the place to sell such things.The carpet had previously been published by Herrmann,and had been shown at the 1985 Munich ICOC.It eventually fetched $42,310 at RB`s on 19 May 2007(Lot 153)


18-Herrmann,SOT 1

This section should not be concluded without mention of the Alvin Pearson carpet,chosen by Thompson for the "Turkmen" catalogue

19-Turkmen-60







Eagle Group III.



Three more carpets have been consigned to a Group III,but few commentators have felt comfortable with this.They could also be placed in Group I.The first,once with Bausback, was afterwards auctioned at Rippon Boswells on 13 November 1993,Lot 76,for $34,370.


20-RB 1993

A second rug from the Wiedersperg Collection was at Skinners in 1983,and then at Christies in 1987,selling for $10,000

21-Wiedersperg 29

And a last piece was later assigned to Group I by both Detlef Maltzahn and the Hali APG staff.It sold at Rippon Boswell for $38,700

22-Rippon Boswell 28 May 2011-Lot 139

Renegade Rugs.



23-Ballard Collection,MET 22.100.44

The Metropolitan Museum`s Ballard Collection rug is justly famous,and was highlighted by Jon Thompson in the 1980 publication "Turkmen"

Thompson traces the design back to an 18th Century Vine-leaf Palmette,but in fact the original is more likely to have been a "Harshang"design carpet

24-The TM`s Vine Leaf Carpet

The Ballard has evolved from a more mundane example.For clarity`s sake the Toms Collection carpet has been chosen for its pedestrian layout

25-Toms Sale sothebys 7 june 1995-lot 122

The design has its origins in Safavid court weavings of the 16th Century,and spread out to the West(NW Persia,Caucasus),and to Khorasan,the presumed home of many Eagle Group weavings

26-Christies 16 December 1994-Lot 92

The design of vertical repeats with a central spine featuring Karagashli Göls,Flaming Palmettes(the "Harshang") and Star Medallions was woven up till the late 19th Century.The Christies carpet(above)is a particularly deviant example from the 18th century,whose sharkfin leaf patterns in the border require very little tweaking to morph into C-Göls.The Ballard follows the same pattern with a centralised spine meeting in an addorsed vase pattern,possibly influenced by a very old Turkish carpet,now in the TIEM,Istanbul

27



The Ballard carpet is a team member of a whole group of Yomut carpets in an archaic style with multi Göls.

Whereas the Ballard is a recognisable Yomut entity(Turkish knotted,for instance)the carpet published by Ulrich Schürmann (and later by Herrmann) is moving clearly direction Eagle I.It bears the scalloped vase Göl common to all three carpets under discussion  



28-SOT 3-93

but any semblance of Turkmen order has gone under in a Harshang Jungle(perhaps jumble would be more accurate)Neither vertically nor horizontally does it make much sense.Persian Knotted open left,weft 2 ply white and brown wool.

The third example with Vase-Harshang Göl is the illustrious Hecksher carpet,sold at Sothebys London on the 26 April 1995(Lot 89)for $58,870

29

This thoroughly un-Turkmen-like rug has a diagonal pattern with Vase-Harshang and addorsed birds taken from a group of Caucasian carpets

30-Christies 4 October 2011-Lot 75
The above sold for $92,000(formerly U.Schürmann).Another example,from the Orient Stars Collection,was  sold at Sothebys NY for $ 33,600

31-Sothebys NY 16 December 2005-lot 87
It had also spent time  at Sothebys in 1981,and later at Rippon Boswell,Sothebys in 2010,and finally Freemans in 2012.

A third example,also once with Ulrich Schürmann,has a striking red ground

32-Schürmann
Whereas the Caucasian examples are brilliant pieces of design,the Hecksher carpet is another heroic failure whose single elements float vainly without internal cohesion.


As Dennis Woodman noted(Hali 81,page 121)one of the Hecksher Göls also occurs on a Kordi rug attributed to the Darreh Gaz Kurds of Khorasan

33


34-W.Stanzer,Kordi-plate 73
Writing in Hali 156,Peter Pouladda christened the Göl a "Polymorphic double motif"and drew up a group of khorasan Turkmen carpets with this design as the main Göl.Most prominent is the "Mehdi" carpet with a Hebrew dating of 1660.It is of course a late 19th Century carpet

35

Of note is an Eagle I design carpet published by Eiland in 1973

36-Eiland,Western Collections 31



Two further carpets have been traditionally associated with the Eagle Group


37-The Pfatschbacher carpet



38-Bausback-Herrmann-Austria

The Pfatschbacher carpet,first published by Ulrich Schürmann in CAR,invariably comes off a close second in the literature,although Hali felt it was the better piece(Hali 49-88)exacter than the second example, often considered the more "spontaneous" of the two.Both carpets are Persian knotted, open left;the first rug has all-wool structure(brown and beige)the second has wool and white cotton.Both carpets are more coarsely knotted than any of the Eagle Group.They both employ a kind of squarish C-Göl with characteristic fins,and a second,equally large Göl which also occurs on the Ballard carpet.This shield type design has small Holbein-like corner cusps.On the Pfatschbacher a strange and unknown Göl makes a one-time appearance in the first row.White stepped Polygons function as minor Göls.In the first rug they vary in size between field and Göl-centre;in the second carpet they are the same size.This alters the look of both carpets in a significant way.The Pfatschbacher combines the two border types of the Eagle II Group.The second carpet was sold at Rippon Boswell`s on 18 November 1989,Lot 118,for $50,394.Both rugs have more to do with the Archaic Poly-Gol Yomut Group,and the C-Göl carpets,than with the Eagles.


Peter Hoffmeister has published an interesting carpet in the catalogue of his collection

39-Hoffmeister 87
It shares the structure of an Eagle I with the design layout of an Eagle II(unless it has been cut and joined,not just in the field,but also at both ends of the field)

A carpet once in the possession of the English Collector Hartley Clarke was eventually sold at Rippon Boswell`s in 2004(15 May,Lot 95)for $34,250.Its chequered history can be read in Hali 136-118.
Clarke published the rug in his 1922 handbook.Devoid of Eagles,it has the structure of a Group  II.

40-Hartley Clarke 1922,page 99

The Yomut carpet published by E.Herrmann in SOT VII,plate 77  is a Turkish-knotted version mixing elements of the Eagle I and II field layouts

41-SOT VII-77


Last but not least a fragment illustrated by George O`Bannon with Group I design, Group III structure and an unknown Main Göl interior.


42-Millberg Collection

                                                                               





43-Mike Isberian

THE ASMALYKS

Clear favourites for inclusion are the two pieces,presumably a pair,which surfaced at Rippon Boswell`s on 11 May 1991

44-Rippon Boswell 11 May 1991-Lot 127








They brought 14 and 12,000 DM respectively at auction.They were designated as Group II,with Persian Knot to the right and a mix of cotton/wool in the weft.The Stand-Alone Kotchanaks at the apex are typical,as is the hour-glass amulette border,also featured in a group of Demi-Göl Torbas.

45-Pinner Sale RB 15-May 2004-Lot 59

Robert Pinner`s piece has the standard trefoil border and an Eagle II structure.It sold for a derisory 4600 euro in Wiesbaden.

Earlier in 1991,Thomas Baker published an asmalyk which had come via Edelman in 1991,and Raymond Benardout in 1978

46-Oriental Rug Review-XI-6-55


Structurally a Group II,but with cramped drawing.Much better is an asmalyk from the Loges book,which is however Turkish-knotted

47-Loges Plate 45

A further three Eagle Asmalyks were sold at Rippon-Boswell`s with the "Adler"certificate

48-RB 18 November 2000-Lot 30

This had been published in the July 1996 issue of Hali(Nr.87-page 129)by Ronnie Newman.According to Hali(115-150)it sold for $ 7800,but was not listed in the official results.In 2009 another example appeared at Rippon-Boswell

49-RB 23 May 2009-Lot 13

This has a companion in the Berlin Islamic Museum,donated by Irmgard Bidder,wife of the collector Hans Bidder.It sold for 2440 euro.A last item was bought in in Wiesbaden against an estimate of 9000 euro.

50-RB 28 May 2011-Lot 199

The last two pieces show the decline in this end of the market.Robert Pinner`s rug starts to look like a huge bargain.Note that all the pieces shown here are Group II-a Group I eagle asmalyk has not yet appeared.There are many pretenders to the Eagle throne,epecially amongst the smaller weavings,where Falkens,Owls, Sparrows,and even Budgerigars and Parrots have been palmed off as Eagles.Many pieces are impossible to identify without technical information.Here is a selection of candidates




Chuvals.

51-Courtesy of  George Gilmore






 Another two 9 Göl Chuvals have been attributed

52-Sienknecht Collection 41
The above has a Persian knot right,and is described as "Adler 2".Unfortunately the weft descriptions are missing throughout the book.

The above with a Persian Knot right,and a weft of wool and cotton,seems to be a likely candidate,but is otherwise atypical.

The Gilmore Chuval is a welcome new discovery

53-George Gilmore



A 16-Göl Group has been tentatively outlined by Hans Sienknecht.However,as these pieces only appear in his own catalogue,and at least one has been defined elsewhere as Tekke,the attribution is conjectural

54-HCS Collection-43
This choval was published in the Thompson Sale catalogue as Tekke(Sothebys 16.12.1993-plate 17).A question-mark accompanies the HCS description.

55-HCS-45

The above described as Eagle 2,with persian Knot open right,but no weft analysis.The Hour-Glass border and brownish ground look promising.

Two chuvals with a chevron design have also been designated as Eagle group,but tech info is lacking

56-Skinners 19 September 1990-Lot 160


57-David Reuben

Four Kizil Chuvals have been assigned

58-TM-Gift of John Irvine-Group II
59-Bogolubov-Atlantic Collections 127-Group II

60-Hoffmeister Collection 91


The varying attributions here seem non-relevant.More importantly,the carpets are 100% knotted,without any flatwoven bands in the field.This is also a great speciality of the Tekke,of which at least 6 examples are known.

Another type of Chuval sharing a common design with the Tekke has oval Göls and an hourglass border

61-HCS Collection-44

Herr Sienknecht`s example is a venerable representative of this group,although he also shows a cut Tekke version with a very similar Gestalt

62-HCS Collection 85

Sari of Karlsruhe also offered a very similar item,with what look like traces of white cotton weft in the exposed zone

63-Sari

A related batch of trappings features an ovoid Göl with scalloped Eli Belindes

64-HCS Collection 46

65-Haji Baba Collection-41


66-New England Rug Society

67-Turkmen 59

A distinguished family of trappings are the Diamond Göl group.They come in groups of one,two and three full rows







68-ATT 5-97C

Mr.Herrmann rarely published fragments


69-Rob van Wieringen

The above from a Dutch dealer later went to Motamedi in Hamburg.

70-Haliden
The latest of the "two full rows"type was purchased at a small English country auction by the intrepid rugonauts at Haliden.See the APG in Hali 171-124.


71-HCS 50

Sold at the same Sothebys auction as the cut two-row fragment above,this was described by H-C Sienknect as Eagle I-?.It is Persian knotted left with depressed warps.Back in May 1984 it fetched $7,700 in an after-sale deal,and later passed to Udo Langauer.

72-Bausback-75,page 194

This cut fragment has lost two rows in the width.It sold at Nagels on 16 May 2000(Lot 132)for $10,955,and was published afterwards by Bausback.Nagels gives Persian knot,left;Bausback Persian knot right;Hali APG (112-152)Eagle I.Brown woolen wefts.

73-ATT 2-60

Published by Eberhart Herrmann who gives Persian knot left,with two brown wefts.

The "Diamond Göl"design had a second life in a group of carpets probably made in Northern  Afghanistan by the Sakar Turkmen(see Klieber page 172)These have lately attracted some attention since a piece from the Menzel Collection(see Loges 107)sold at Rippon Boswell`s
for $4,075

74-RB 26 November 2011-Lot 11

An item from the Dudin collection is more successful


75-ORR 11-12-1990,page 92




One last item published by Jon Thompson in "Timbuktu"may or may not belong.There is no tech info available.However it is quite "finely brown"

76-Timbuktu 34

The Torbas

There are four type of eagle torbas,with Aksu,Memling,Palmette and Peacock designs.The Aksu Group are the most common,with 27 examples on view here.For ease of reference they have been divided by ascending rows.

5 Rows

77-Sothebys NY 25.11.08-Lot 86

The above was previously with Ronnie Newman and sold at Sothebys for $23,750.According to Sothebys it had all-cotton wefting

78-Ronnie Newman

A second 5 row example showed up at the Dorotheum

79-Dorotheum 14.09.2010-70b

where it sold(together with another torba)for 1500 euro.

6 Rows

The Julian Homer piece sold at Christies in 1989 for $5,350

80-Christies 8 April 1989-Lot 126

It was eventually re-auctioned at Rippon Boswells on 19 May 2007(Lot 41)for $12,205


81-Turkmen  58

The above from the Howard Risvold Collection features a minor guard more usually found on some main carpets.Brown woolen wefts.

82-Thatcher
From the collection of Amos Thatcher,plate 8.

Not surprisingly,the models with 7 rows are the most common.9 examples are shown here

83-Lefevre 10-83
84-Atlantic Collections 213

85-Atlantic Collections 214

86-Washington ICOC 20

87-Ronnie Newman



88-Thompson 52

89-Nagels 11 November 1995-Lot 1184

8 Rows

90-Eskenazi 272

91-Lefevre March 1983

92-Grote Hasenbalg III-91

93-Rippon Boswell 10 November 1984-84


94-Turkmenhaly 38

95-Rugs of the Inner Circle

9 Rows

96-After Rossetti

Sold at Nagels on 13 October 1990-Lot 432-for 8500 DM

97-Christies
Sold at Christies 22 January 1991(Lot 25)-estimate $2000-3000.Sold for $1950.

98-RB 2005


Sold at Rippon Boswells 28 May 2005(Lot 42) for $13,555.

99-Grogans

Sold at Grogans 12 January 2009(Lot 51) for $10,925.

100-Elmby 


The pair published by Hans Elmby in his second catalogue(28)and now in the Hoffmeister Collection(89)

101-Hans-Christian Sienknecht Collection-49

102-Alan Marcuson Hali 2-4-272

There are some very beautiful panels with the Memling Göl design,but their origins are uncertain.

A piece in the Dudin collection looks promising

103-Dudin

Another from Moshkowa surely fits

104-Moshkowa(O`Bannon) 102

Hans Sienknecht was not sure about his Adler proposal,which is depressed warp open to the right

105-HCS Collection 53

Another piece with the same rare border has been exhibited

106


Then there are a group of "Yomut" weavings which may or may not belong,first and foremost being the Jon Thompson piece

107-Thompson

Sold on 16 December 1993(Lot 48) at Sothebys NY for $10,925.

108-Benardout

The above formerly with Raymond Benardout,and subsequently sold at Sothebys NY on 4 June 1988(Lot 94) for $5500.Could be the pair to the Thompson.

A third example with Thomas Cole

109-Thomas Cole,Imprints,plate 8


Winged Palmette Design.

An exquisite group of torbas,5 in number,with a design similar to that seen on the Elems of the 9-Gol Eagle Chuvals

110-Loges 55

111-Budapest,from:Ledacs,Nr.55

112-Zia Bozoglu


113-Hoffmeister Collection-136

great was the outcry when a similar design was discovered on the elem of Michael Grogan`s Salor Ensi


114-Grogans 22 May 2011-Lot 805

Even more surprising was the appearance of an Ersari version at Rippon-Boswell`s in 2000


115-RB 18 November 2000-Lot 37


Especially considering that the same sale also contained a real Eagle torba with this design

116-RB 55-37

The above selling for $8,315.


A carpet,split into two fragments,is also known


117-Stockholm ICOC


118-Sari,Karlsruhe


The Ersari group with Eagle design numbers at least 5 pieces.H-C Sienknecht has one,via Christies,and another is in the Victoria & Albert Museum,London.

Even more rarified are a group of torbas and Kapunuks with an Avian-Octagon design,named here the Peacock Group

119-Hoffmeister Collection plate 135

The above first surfaced at Sothebys in 1988,and was sold for $28,600.Later with Jim Blackmon,it is now in the Hoffmeister Collection.

A second example was published in the "Turkmen"Catalogue,from the Gilbert Collection

120-Turkmen-57



 third example appeared in the Milan ICOC catalogue of 1999


121-Sovrani,113




A fourth torba appeared at the English Auctioneers Locke & England in 2011,and was sold for $26,650.It later appeared at the Stockholm ICOC with Motamedi of Hamburg.


122-Motamedi

A last example in Kapunuk form was published in the O`Bannon translation of Moshkova,plate 109,and is now in the museum in Ashkabad


123-Ashkabad

Trappings.

A group of jollars,24 in number, functioned as bags or trappings.
These are long narrow bags,larger than conventional torbas.Again the proximity to the Tekke orbit is clear.
The pieces all feature a "Demi-Göl" design,suggesting an infinite repeat.They can be divided by border into 3 Groups.The most common is an Ersari-like 4 Leaf Clover design.

An early mention in Hali of the Eagle Göl Group was a description of Julian Homer`s piece,sold at his Christies Sale on 8 April 1989(Hali 45-84)

124-Christies

The Homer piece sold for $15,950,but the price was topped two years later at Wiesbaden


125-Rippon Boswell  16 November 1991-Lot 108

Selling for $17,510,the rug was later exhibited by Nomadic Rug Traders in Australia.

Failing to sell at Rippon Boswell on the 15th May 2004,the following was re-auctioned at Wiesbaden on 20 May 2006((Lot 36) for just 3800 euro


126

In the 2004 catalogue the secondary motif was christened the "Satellite Göl".Apart from their larger size and different borders,this Göl is the obvious difference between the Eagle and the Tekke models,which employ a chemche as secondary


A second group with Kotchak border comprises 4 examples


127-Hoffmeister 137

From the Thompson Sale via Hans Elmby,and twice at Sothebys before selling on 11 June 2002(Lot 34)for $13,835.



128-Langauer Hali 168


From Udo Langauer


129-HCS 48

First published by Herrmann in SOT 8(102a),and offered at his show in 1986 for 32,000 DM,this later entered the Sienknecht collection and then passed to Kurt Muncasi(Timbuktu 35)

Two pieces are known with a curled-leaf border


130-ORR 10-3-22

Erich Menzel`s Eagle II torba has a border seen on some Tekke 6 Göl pieces


131-Gewebt & Geknüpft 1-3-23


A piece published by Jon Terry in Hali 103,although not a fastidious Eagle,is nevertheless a real heart-thumper


132-Arabatchi-Persian knotted left?

Four other pieces do not quite fit into the above categories,although the item sold at Sothebys in 2010-for $23,750-does have the Swastika border,but without the Kotchaks


133-Sothebys 7 December 2010-Lot 53


Meanwhile over at Ashkabad Mrs Moshkova`s torba has a classic Yomut border


134-Moshkowa(O `Bannon)-112-Ashkabad Museum

Robert Pinner`s example sold at Rippon Boswell for 7300 euro.It has main carpet borders and two interesting quincunx ornaments on both lower corners


135-Rippon Boswell,Pinner Sale 15 May 2004-Lot 61


The fourth rug is in the deYoung Museum San Francisco as a gift from George & Marie Hecksher.It was inexplicably described as a "mafrash" by Peter Poullada in his Hali 143 article,although it measures 120 x 46 cms


136-Hali 143-79


A group of rugs with "classic" Turkmen Göls rounds off this section


137-Rippon Boswell 15 May 2004-Lot 112


Said to have languored in a Leipzig Collection for many years,this sold on the day for $68,500.Assigned to either Group I or III,Hali described it as woven without a back,although Detlef Maltzahn`s catalogue entry reports the opposite.In mint condition.

Sold in 2008 at the same auction house for $40,800


138-Rippon Boswell 24 May 2008-Lot 128

A torba at the Robert Pinner sale had no cut Göls,but was Persian knotted right and ascribed Eagle II.It sold for 5000 euro


139-Rippon Boswell,Pinner Sale,15 May 2004-Lot 92


Its rare border can be seen on the Sienknecht and Dudin Memling Göl Eagle torbas,as well as on a Saryk torba sold at Skinners,which also sported-coincidentally?-a Memling Göl



140-Skinners 23 April 1994-Lot 31


The English dealer David Reuben attributed his example to Eagle II



141-Reuben-Göls and Guls II-43


A rug published by Adraskand lately re-appeared in the possession of Ronnie Newman


142-Hali 28


143-Ronnie Newman

Hans Elmby`s quaint fragment boasts two full and two half-Göls,attributed to Eagle II


144-Elmby II-30


A piece from Michael Franses with peikam border concludes this section


145-Hali 2-4-page 65


Tentbands.

Some readers may have become aware of the Eagle Tentbands in an advertisement from Mark Keshishian in Hali 6/1-12,back in 1983.It is a classic example displaying the bland nobility of the Group


146-Keshishian




147-HCS Collection





Radial designs in panels distinguish the Group as a whole,plus the use of silk wefting.

A piece from the Azadi Collection sold at Rippon Boswell on 11 May 2002 for $16,235,but failed to find a buyer on its return on November 2008



148-Rippon Boswell



The same auction house offered a further example on 5 December 2009,which had previously been exhibited at the TM and published by Richard Isaacson in the accompanying catalogue



149-Ghereh 48-73

selling for 19,520 euro.

Another example surfaced at the Dorotheum in 2010



150-14.09.2010-Lot 28

The above selling for 7500 euro.




No Ensis are known,but an ideal model might look like this



151-HCS 84

the above purchased at Nagels on 17 October 1992-Lot 2191 for $8,950


152-Hali 164-115



Whoever the Eagle makers were,the best of their work is on par with the most exalted of Turkmen productions.They were able to invent their own vocabulary,based on what is surely a kind of Tekkified Yomut,and were aware of other artistic movements in the Turkmen world. Some creations are uniquely their own,including the Eagle Göl itself,the Bird-Octagon Göl with its Anatolian atavism,and the Diamond Göl Trappings.The lack of any assignable Ensi is perhaps an indicator of their more urban origins.

Why did General Bogolubov instinctively associate the Main carpet Göl with a spread-eagle?He was surely thinking of the Russian symbol of state,the double-headed eagle,which entered Russia during the 15th century via the Byzantines.The Seljuk Turks  incorporated the symbol into their Heraldic world fom the 11th century onwards.It has been a powerful image since Millenia.



153






Bogolyubov-Carpets of Central Asia
Cole,Tom-Imprints
Elmby,Hans-Antique Turkmen Carpets I-V
Grote-Hasenbalg,Werner-Der Orientteppich
Hali 112-79-Eagle Göl Carpets
Hali 155-59-The Dyrnak Motif,by David Reuben
Hali 156-54-Qizilbash from Khorasan,by Peter Poullada
ICOC-Pacific & Atlantic Collections
Isaacson,Richard,Architectural Textiles(Tent Bands)
Klieber,Helmut-Turkestan
Loges,Werner-Turkmenische Teppiche
Moshkova,trans. George O `Bannon
McMullan-Islamic Carpets
Neugebauer & Orendi-Handbuch der Orientalischen Teppichkunde
Oriental Rug Review,XI-6-48- Ned Long and George O `Bannon review  the 
Pinner & Eiland-Between the Black Desert and the Red-the Wiedersperg Collection 
Reuben,David-Gols and Guls II
Rossetti,Brigitte-Die Turkmenen
Rippon Boswell,Wiesbaden,15 May 2004-The Pinner Sale
Schürmann,Ulrich-Central Asian Rugs
Sienknecht Collection-Sammlung HCS-Hodenhagen 1997
Sothebys New York,Thompson Sale 16 December 1993
Sothebys-Loges Sale,London 19th October 1994
Thompson,Jon,and Mackie,Louise-Turkmen
Thompson-Timbuktu to Tibet
Tsareva,Elena-Turkmen Carpets,the Hoffmeister Collection
Turkmenhaly-Ashgabat Museum 2006



Wednesday 20 February 2013

An Exclusive Club


Due to the frequency with which some items are re-published,a distorted view of their actual rarity may arise.One such case is the East Turkestan carpet chosen by Hans König to illustrate a group of woolen carpets with textile design(Hali 175,page 50)

 1-Tabibnia-Intrecci Cinesi page 100

This carpet has been published at least eleven times,although only five examples of the group are known.(Writing in Hali 138,page 57,König refers to six pieces,but without listing them)


2-Tabibnia,Hali 174-50





3- Tabibnia,Hali 138-52,also Hali 102





Three of the five are so similar that in comparing the Tabibnia rug(Hali 174,page 50)to the piece published in König`s  2005 monograph on Gansu carpets,the editors mixed up the pictures-Issue 174`s piece was auctioned three times,having been previously in the possession of Barbara Sedlin and Maurizio Battilossi(1).The carpet in Hali 138-53(2) is another Tabibnia carpet once belonging to Jay Nazmiyal,and exhibited by him in Hali 102.


4- Christies 19 November 1985-Lot 18


The above is the first published example.

Another piece in the possession of Maurizio Battilossi was also the largest:a gigantic 523 x 358 metres,which understandably failed to sell against an estimate of $150-200,00 at Sothebys in 1994



5- Battilossi,Hali 74



An atypical piece was once owned by E.Herrmann and later went to the Textile Gallery




6- Hali 40,Herrmann 




The design itself is derived from 15th century Ming Lampas weaves,of a type published in Hali 103,page 152.


7-Spinks


The similarities are so obvious that a further excursion into possible Safavid influence need not detain us here.

A silken mat bearing this design was first published in the Tiffany`s Studio catalogue of 1906 



8-Tiffany 1906-page 91


It is so close to a second example from the Wher collection that one must presume that they were once a pair.


9-Hali Annual 4 1997-page 99

A later silk example was also in the hands of Adil Besim


10- Besim 3-77



Of the five known woolen carpets technical information is available for four.They all have a 4-ply warp,and three shoots of weft,on either ivory or blue-dyed cotton.Only the Herrmann rug has a weft of two shoots,a looser general weave,some use of Turkish knotting and white cotton in the field.But do these mildly aberrant features justify opening up a new folder?

A number of silk rugs with the Octagon-Squares design are known.The most prominent is a piece from an Austrian Collection



11-Gewebt & Geknüpft 1-3-58


Note the way in which a different section of the design has been used in the silk example.

A “Kashgar” silk carpet with Khotan borders  is a simpler development



12-Sothebys 1 October 2002-Lot 302


A Chinese silk-metal carpet,as ever,bears the design


13-Christies 22 June 2005-Lot 214


The Chinese carpet mentioned in Hali 43-96 is a latecomer


14-Ineichen 6 June 1988-Lot 37


An early Chinese rug once with the Textile Gallery bears an elegant version of the design,closer in style to the textile blueprint



15-The Textile Gallery




The Octagon-Squares design is a pleasing one,none more so than in silk,from whence it presumably came.Various weaving sheds probably had a go at it,although three of the five woolen examples are surely from the same hands,i.e from the makers of-”Yarkand”The practice of ascribing carpets to definite areas on the grounds of technical  characteristics is questionable,as it may be that similar types of carpet,of differing structures, were made in the same area.The terms “Yarkand,Khotan,Kashgar” seem to have become synonyms for a stylistic expression,rather than geographical locations.History is rarely so accomodating.Rug circles are slowly recovering from the malaise of disinformation supplied by carpet dealers in the early 20th century,whose chief motivation was to disguise their acquisition points,whilst appearing knowledgeable.In business this is accepted practice;less so for historians.The unverifiable origin of carpets necessitates a reliance on taxonomy and structure. 

Octagon Squares Collation.

1) Christies 1988-Sothebys 1994-Sothebys 2002- Battilossi-Tabibnia

Warp Z4S White;Weft Z2-4 white,3 shoots;309 x 174 m.

Auction Results:Christies East 6.December 1988,Lot 56-$46,200; Sothebys 15 December 1994,Lot 128-$46,000; Sothebys NY 3 December 2002,Lot 102-$59,750.

2)Sothebys-Nazmiyal-Tabibnia:175 x 315  Sothebys 12.12.1997-51:Warp:Cotton Z5-6S,ivory;Weft:cotton Z3-4S,three shoots ivory;3.17 x 1.75 m. Auction Price:-$54,050

3)Christies 1985:no data available. 3.07 x 180 cms.

4)Sothebys 1994 + Battilossi Hali 74:Warp Cotton Z4S,ivory;Weft Z2 4 shoots;523 x 358;auction price:offered at Sothebys NY 15 December 1994 for estimate $150-200,000-unsold.

5)E.Herrmann,SOT 8-115:Warp:cotton light blue Z4S;Weft:cotton light blue Z2,2 shoots;152 x 357 cm;occasional use of Turkish knot;cotton in the pile;auction result:Sothebys NY 31 May 1986 Lot 69-$24,200;published in Hali 40,page 1;Hali 138,page 57,Textile Gallery.

6)Silk mat,published in Tiffanys catalogue 1906,page 91,circa 3 x 3 feet.

7)Silk mat,published Hali Annual 4 1997(Wher Collection),sold at Rippon Boswell 15 May 1999 for 12000 DM.Size 81 x 84 cms.

8)Silk Mat,Adil Besim,warp undyed cotton,not displaced;weft blue cotton, 2 shoots;size 86 x 83 cms.

9)Silk carpet,published in Gewebt & Geknüpft,I-III,page 58;and Volume IV,Nr.25;Warp Z4S cotton,ivory;Weft blue cotton, 2 shoots,Size 283 x 210 cms.The author confuses the two Tabibnia rugs here in his listing,Nr.3-


Hali APGs: Hali,31-87; 43-96; 79-148; 97-41; 128-129.


16-Tibetan silk-James Blackmon