Description
Vintage Turkoman Beshir carpet with small repeating guls on a primary brick red field. A variant of the legendary Bukhara motif, the guls are composed of black, orange and yellow. Ivory white highlights and border guards.
A good amount of wear on parts of the interior of the rug. The wool fringes have some wear but generally very good shape. The side cords are in excellent condition. There is a small canvas patch on the back to gird a tiny spot that seemed weak. (It’s only visible from the back and about 2 inches square.)
Turkoman rugs are woven in a fairly supple fashion as the ability to fold and move a carpet is important to nomadic tribes. Even when tribes settle permanently in villages, they tend to keep their traditional designs and techniques for rug making.
Exact size is 11 ft.5 in. by 8 ft. 9 in.
Natural wool — including warp and weft structure. 1940s.
Professionally washed. Dyes are high quality and no issues with bleeding during the wash. The dyes appear all natural except possibly the orange.
Out of a European estate. The rug could work under a dining table as the wear is in the interior of the rug.
The last photo with Morgan silver dollar shows the backside of the carpet.
The Beshir
The Beshir are usually considered a sub-group of the Ersari Turkoman although the ethnography of the Turkoman people is highly nebulous. Most of these large Beshir rugs are woven in and around Bukhara, which is a large city in Uzbekistan. With an age of late 1920s to late 1940s, this is a Soviet era carpet as Uzbekistan was the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic from 1924 until 1991 with the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Unlike other Turkoman tribes, the Beshir have created a highly distinctive weaving style. Featuring bright colors and fewer simple geometric designs, the Beshir tribe features intricate motifs and stylized floral patterns. Because of their distinct style and vivid colors, Beshir rugs are heavily sought after by collectors.
The Beshir tribe inhabit parts of Uzbekistan, especially around Bukhara, the Amu Darya Valley in Turkmenistan, and small areas in Afghanistan. While some Turkoman tribes entered these regions as early as the 11th century A.D., some ethnographers believe that the Beshir were a much later group that settled in the region in the 17th century after being forced out of their homeland in the Balkans by political turmoil.
Because their origin is distinct from other peoples in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, the rugs the Beshir weave have a unique aesthetic. While there is variation among Beshir rugs, their style is so distinct that attribution is seldom a problem.
Beshir rugs are finely knotted, typically in the range of 60 to 160 knots per square inch. The foundation is usually wool, though some of the Afghan Beshir use a mixture of wool and goat’s hair. In contrast to other Turkoman groups, the Beshir do not use guls (tribal emblems) as the foundation of their designs. Instead, Beshir rugs feature all-over repeating patterns with images taken from nature, such as leaves, vines, stars, and sometimes animals.
Beshir rugs are also distinct in coloring. While Turkoman rugs generally are dominated by deep reds and blues, Beshir rugs often place these shades alongside lighter and brighter colors such as reds and yellows. The result is a vital, exuberant appearance that contrasts to the somber tones of some other Turkoman rugs.
Shipping is $55 within continental U.S.
Please contact me with additional questions. Thank you.
(BE0001 O26)
