Bashir chuval

Using near perfect scale and spacing this large Bashir chuval draws inspiration from both Turkmen tribal weavings as well as more formal Central Asian textile traditions. Within the deep red madder field a central column of three heaxagonal devices flanked on both sides by energetic zig-zagging bands can all be traced to silk ikat textile design from urban ateliers in what is now Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The delicate rams’ heads terminating from the thin latch-hook devices of the sides and top panel, however, are hallmarks of Ersari and other Turkmen groups from the Middle Amu Darya region of Central Asia as are the rendering of the eight-ponted stars of the bottom ‘elem’ skirt panel and the linked clover border.