A Tekke main carpet, West Turkestan,

Color lighter and fresher than it appears in the catalogue illustration; ground is a saturated madder red with design elements in ivory, rust, deep blue, mid-blue, blue green with dark brown outlines. Pile ranges from a few areas with lustrous 1/8 inch wool to generally low to knotheads and foundation; 2-1/3 x 2 inch square hole near center and smaller scattered holes---all holes sewn down to red felt on reverse. Scattered moth tracks in pile areas. Missing outer guard borders and some losses into major border. Luminous color, lustrous wool.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Tekke Turkmen weavers in the 1700s decorated their works with large guls in loose formation, as opposed to the use of more numerous and regularly placed guls in their 19th century carpets. For examples of early Tekke weavings with large guls, see Schürmann, Ulrich, Central Asian Rugs, Frankfurt am Main, 1969, pls. 1-3. Like these early Tekke main carpets from the eighteenth and early nineteenth century, the lot offered here exhibits rounded large guls and is woven with highly lustrous wool. Unusual to this carpet are the specific large guls which have a rosette as their interior decoration.  Similar guls are more often found on bagfaces rather than carpets, for examples see Mackie, Louise W. and Jon Thompson, Turkomen Tribal Carpets and Traditions, Washington, D.C., 1980, pg. 108, fig. 35; Hoffmeister, Peter, Turkomen Carpets in Franconia, Edinburgh, 1980, pg. 73, fig. 26; and on a torba sold Sotheby's New York, December 18, 1982, lot 10.