Eagle Group Rugs
Guide to Eagle Group / Fine Brown Yomut Rugs & Carpets
Examples:
Eagle Group Asmalyk
Origin: Northeast Persia, before 1800
Size: approx. 70 x 123 cm
Notes on Condition -Sides re-selvaged; otherwise in very good condition.
Eagle Group II Main Carpet
Origin: Central Asia, West Turkestan, 1st half 19th century
Size: ca. 307 x 190 cm
Notes on Condition
Large re-knotted area along the middle axis; another horizontal re-knotted section from the upper left side down to the middle (visible from the back of the carpet), two long, re-joined cuts, uneven wear.
Fine Brown Yomut Chuval
Group I: 3- and 4-ply pile yarn. Asymmetrical knot open to the left. Wool weft with at least one silk weft shoot, usually dyed red. Dark red-brown field color. Primary gul is similar to Moshkova’s LIX,3. (Seven carpets listed and illustrated.)
Group II: 2-ply pile yarn. Asymmetrical knot open to the right. Wool weft with at least one cotton (not silk) weft shoot. Medium red-brown field color. Primary gul is similar to Moshkova’s LIX,6. (Eleven carpets listed; ten illustrated.)
Group III: 3-ply pile yarn. Asymmetrical knot open to the left. Wool weft; may or may not have silk or cotton shoots. Dark aubergine field color. Primary gul is similar to Moshkova’s LIX,6. (Three carpets listed and illustrated.)
In addition, there are seven possibly related main carpets listed that differ from Groups I through III by at least one key trait. None has silk weft shoots, and two are woven with symmetrical knots.
The Aija Blitte Collection torba
I was a bit surprised to see this on Hali.com:
“Turkmen ‘eagle-göl’ group I torba or trapping (detail), late 18th or early 19th century. Approx. 1.20 x 0.60m (4’0″” x 2’0″”).Aija Blitte Collection, Washington DC (International Hajji Baba Society)”
This piece is very familiar to me, it has been shown around town extensively. I would not have thought it that old. As a lucky find this was charming but “late 18th or early 19th” in Hali? What this really points to is the ongoing conundrum in the study of Oriental rugs. Older rugs tend to “better” so some extrapolate that a better piece is older. The Blitte Collection piece is a nice piece. Must we then date it early on the basis of quality. I suggest not. There is no reason why such a nice piece could not be 100 years latter. Why not “late 19th or early 20th”? Why not in deed?
Another rarity was an ‘Eagle-gül’ group torba (13; pl.113) with twelve octagons containing large birds flanked by smaller animals. The design was first noticed on a drawing of a khalyk in the Fine Arts Museum, Ashkhabad. Similar torbas were published in Turkmen, pl.57 and in Hali 87, p.130, where it was advertised by James Blackmon
Turkmen Eagle-gül II carpet
Central Asia
19th Century
The Allen Late 18th Century
Antique Yomut/Eagle group II Juval early 19th C.
Yomut/Eagle group II Juval
80 x 120
Early 19th century
An outstanding early juval with good colours and an unusual border. Asymmetric knots open right with random small areas of symmetric knots.
1st half 19th C. Eagle Group II
Origin: Central Asia, West Turkestan
1st half 19th c.
Size: ca. 47 x 148 cm
Notes
Because of detailed and extensive studies by Rautenstengel and Azadi we are today able to attribute these weavings to one of the three Eagle Gul groups. – In good condition; at the upper end with remains of the finely woven red kilim; minimal losses at right side.
Antique Eagle Gul Group II Yomud Mafrash
34 x 84
Third Quarter 19th Century
Antique Eagle Gul Group II Yomud Mafrash
37 x 72
First Half 19th Century
Eagle Group Asmalyk
Turkestan, 19th century
4 feet 4 inches x 2 feet 7 inches.