571. a bejewelled antique Yomut chuval bagface

571. Provenance: Yomut tribe, Turkoman group, Central Asia

Age: Circa 1900

Size: 118 x 80 cm

Condition: Very good for age. Very minor loss to top, fully and professionally secured.

Notes: NB: the photo doesn't do it justice. It appears much darker than it is - apologies. A stunning piece of tribal art. This would have served as a storage bag within a yurt or tent - probably for clothes or bedding, but also as a pack animal transport bag, when moving camps. For this reason they were probably always made in pairs (so animals could be loaded on both flanks), though they have seldom survived as such. The main guls are the so-called 'chuval guls' used by the Yomut. The minor guls are much less common - instead of the more usual sharch palak guls, these have hooked 'arrowheads' (medachyl) coming off. The row of fork-like motifs in the elem are particularly sweet. Soft wool on wool, and natural dyes.