Turkmen rugs

Rugs of a nomadic people

Turkmen tribes lived as herders across the steppes and oases of Central Asia. Their weaving covered daily needs: tent door hangings, storage bags, animal trappings and main carpets for the tent floor.

Each tribe developed its own versions of shared motifs. Collectors still group older Turkmen rugs by tribe, and naming the tribe is often the first step in dating or valuing one.

The gul

The gul is the repeating medallion that fills the field of most Turkmen rugs. Rows of guls are set in a grid, often with smaller secondary motifs between them.

The shape of the gul is a strong clue to the tribe. The Tekke gul is a compact, rounded octagon. Ersari guls are larger and bolder. Yomud rugs use several gul types, often in a lattice or diagonal arrangement.

Why many are called Bokhara

Bokhara, in Uzbekistan, was a major market town where Turkmen rugs were traded. Its name stuck as a trade label, so many red rugs with gul designs are sold as Bokhara rugs whatever their origin.

The name now covers new rugs woven in Pakistan, India and elsewhere in a Turkmen style. A label of Bokhara tells you the design, not where or by whom the rug was made.

Colors and how to recognize one

The ground is usually a madder red, ranging from bright brick to deep brown-red and aubergine. Indigo, ivory and dark brown fill in the guls, with occasional yellow or green.

Older pieces are finely knotted with a short, lustrous wool pile. Many newer rugs in this style are woven in northern Afghanistan and Pakistan by Turkmen and other weavers. A rug with a slightly uneven gul or a change in shade across the field is often hand-knotted, while perfectly repeated guls with a printed-looking back suggest a machine.

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