Eagle Group Primer

1

In 1908 General Bogolyubov,in the descriptions to his carpet album,inadvertenly christened one of two main carpets an “Eagle” design.

2

The  carpets have gone astray,but a year later Neugebauer & Orendi published a further example in black and white.

3-Neugebauer-Orendi,1909- plate 138 (Eagle Group I)

The Neugebauer piece has suffered palpably over the years,being now reduced to a small number of fragments,which were eventually rescued by Hans Elmby in Denmark.

4-Hali 2-4-340

Grote-Hasenbalg bemoaned the lack of available examples in his 1930 Opus. The world had to wait for Joseph McMullan`s collection in 1965 and the first publication of  an adequate colour reproduction.

5-McMullan plate 123(Eagle Group I)

Group I.

This consists of seven examples.Technically,they are distinguished by a first weft of red wool and red silk loosely plied together.The silk/wool mix was presumably dyed together in one vat.The second weft comprises natural coloured undyed brown wool.Knotting is Persian,open to the left,and the pile yarn is invariably 3-ply.

The design layout features three rows of vertical eagle Göls by 4 in the horizontal.

The typical Lotus-Palmette border(for such it is) faces in one direction on four examples,and opposed on three others.

Most Group I  carpets have not been spared the injustice of ageing.The Reitlinger is surely one of the most austere Turkmen carpets ever woven.

6-Ashmolean Museum-Hali 32-25

The John Phillips piece published in "Turkmen"has survived intact,and illustrates the wildly varying Chroma of these carpets in reproduction. 

7-Turkmen,plate 56

8-Phillips,Hali 3-3-228

9-Hoffmeister Collection,88

A last example was published by Giuseppe Cohen in 1968

10-Cohen,Il Fascino del Tappeto Orientale,XCV

Group II.

As with the group I carpets,the second group consists of rows of Eagle Göls aligned between alternating rows of Dyrnak.In the second group the order is reversed,and four vertical rows feature a row of three Göls.Borders display a reversing Lotus Palmette,and in three cases a meander border with simple flower petal and scallops.A wide trefoil border guard is de rigeur.Technically the Group II carpets employ a weft of wool/cotton followed by brown wool.Knotting is Persian open right.The Group II rugs are less finely knotted than the Group I.

16 examples and two fragments are known,of which 9 have appeared at auction.

The much travelled and strangely disfigured example sold at Sothebys in 1980 was auctioned for ￡ 4100 pounds,but on return a year later brought only￡2860.These were still considerable sums at that time.At some point the piece was with Bausback,Mannheim,but re-appeared at Sothebys in 1986(Islamic sale 16.4.1986-Lot 478,estimate ￡1500-2000 result unknown )Its last public appearance was at Sothebys  NY on 13 September 1995,where it sold for $14,375

11-Sothebys house-guest has lost 3 rows of dyrnak

A carpet offered at Sothebys NY in 1984 failed to attract a single bid,despite a low estimate of $5/6000

12-Sothebys NY 1 December 1984-Lot 6

An example sold at Rippon Boswell in 1992 achieved the top price for this group.From the Ryder Collins Collection,it had previously been exhibited at the San Francisco ICOC in 1990,and published in the accompanying catalogue(Oriental Rugs in Pacific Collections,Nr.72)It was praised by Hali as BOT,and sold accordingly for $112,035.

13-RB 28 March 1992-Lot 142

The following year a carpet later with Herbert Ostler in Munich sold at Nagels for $30,300(23 June 1993-Lot 3195).The carpet was later with Sailer.It is the only example with an intact knotted elem panel, not unlike the missing Bogolubov piece.

14-Ostler,Weltkunst 15 August 1986,page 2174

In 1994 and 1995 the German Collector Werner Loges attempted to sell his piece,first at a purpose-built collector sale at Sothebys  on 19 October 1994(Lot 23),and then again at Sothebys on 26 April 1995(Lot 117),but with no luck.The carpet eventually sold at Nagels Stuttgart on 27 March 2012(Lot 29) for $17,690

Auction prices have been steadily rising.Sothebys London sold the piece which eventually entered the Wiedersperg Collection on 24 April 1996 for $38,205.It was said by Hali to have had all-cotton wefts,but the Wiedersperg catalogue gives wool/cotton.

15-Wiedersperg 28

In the same year Bukowskis in Stockholm auctioned the famed Faberge rug for $48,410.It is remarkable for its pristine condition

16-Bukowskis 29 November 1996-lot 1257

More than seven years elapsed until a Group II carpet appeared at Rippon Boswells in 2004,selling for $74,205.The piece had been sourced in England

17-Rippon Boswell 15 May 2004-Lot 74

And a further item appearing at the same auction house three years later confirmed that Wiesbaden is the place to sell such things.The carpet had previously been published by Herrmann,and had been shown at the 1985 Munich ICOC.It eventually fetched $42,310 at RB`s on 19 May 2007(Lot 153)

18-Herrmann,SOT 1

This section should not be concluded without mention of the Alvin Pearson carpet,chosen by Thompson for the "Turkmen" catalogue

19-Turkmen-60

Eagle Group III.

Three more carpets have been consigned to a Group III,but few commentators have felt comfortable with this.They could also be placed in Group I.The first,once with Bausback, was afterwards auctioned at Rippon Boswells on 13 November 1993,Lot 76,for $34,370.

20-RB 1993

A second rug from the Wiedersperg Collection was at Skinners in 1983,and then at Christies in 1987,selling for $10,000

21-Wiedersperg 29

And a last piece was later assigned to Group I by both Detlef Maltzahn and the Hali APG staff.It sold at Rippon Boswell for $38,700

22-Rippon Boswell 28 May 2011-Lot 139

Renegade Rugs.

23-Ballard Collection,MET 22.100.44

The Metropolitan Museum`s Ballard Collection rug is justly famous,and was highlighted by Jon Thompson in the 1980 publication "Turkmen"

Thompson traces the design back to an 18th Century Vine-leaf Palmette,but in fact the original is more likely to have been a "Harshang"design carpet

24-The TM`s Vine Leaf Carpet

The Ballard has evolved from a more mundane example.For clarity`s sake the Toms Collection carpet has been chosen for its pedestrian layout

25-Toms Sale sothebys 7 june 1995-lot 122

The design has its origins in Safavid court weavings of the 16th Century,and spread out to the West(NW Persia,Caucasus),and to Khorasan,the presumed home of many Eagle Group weavings

26-Christies 16 December 1994-Lot 92

The design of vertical repeats with a central spine featuring Karagashli Göls,Flaming Palmettes(the "Harshang") and Star Medallions was woven up till the late 19th Century.The Christies carpet(above)is a particularly deviant example from the 18th century,whose sharkfin leaf patterns in the border require very little tweaking to morph into C-Göls.The Ballard follows the same pattern with a centralised spine meeting in an addorsed vase pattern,possibly influenced by a very old Turkish carpet,now in the TIEM,Istanbul

27

The Ballard carpet is a team member of a whole group of Yomut carpets in an archaic style with multi Göls.

Whereas the Ballard is a recognisable Yomut entity(Turkish knotted,for instance)the carpet published by Ulrich Schürmann (and later by Herrmann) is moving clearly direction Eagle I.It bears the scalloped vase Göl common to all three carpets under discussion  

28-SOT 3-93

but any semblance of Turkmen order has gone under in a Harshang Jungle(perhaps jumble would be more accurate)Neither vertically nor horizontally does it make much sense.Persian Knotted open left,weft 2 ply white and brown wool.

The third example with Vase-Harshang Göl is the illustrious Hecksher carpet,sold at Sothebys London on the 26 April 1995(Lot 89)for $58,870

29

This thoroughly un-Turkmen-like rug has a diagonal pattern with Vase-Harshang and addorsed birds taken from a group of Caucasian carpets

30-Christies 4 October 2011-Lot 75

The above sold for $92,000(formerly U.Schürmann).Another example,from the Orient Stars Collection,was  sold at Sothebys NY for $ 33,600

31-Sothebys NY 16 December 2005-lot 87

It had also spent time  at Sothebys in 1981,and later at Rippon Boswell,Sothebys in 2010,and finally Freemans in 2012.

A third example,also once with Ulrich Schürmann,has a striking red ground

32-Schürmann

Whereas the Caucasian examples are brilliant pieces of design,the Hecksher carpet is another heroic failure whose single elements float vainly without internal cohesion.

As Dennis Woodman noted(Hali 81,page 121)one of the Hecksher Göls also occurs on a Kordi rug attributed to the Darreh Gaz Kurds of Khorasan

33

34-W.Stanzer,Kordi-plate 73

Writing in Hali 156,Peter Pouladda christened the Göl a "Polymorphic double motif"and drew up a group of khorasan Turkmen carpets with this design as the main Göl.Most prominent is the "Mehdi" carpet with a Hebrew dating of 1660.It is of course a late 19th Century carpet

35

Of note is an Eagle I design carpet published by Eiland in 1973

36-Eiland,Western Collections 31

Two further carpets have been traditionally associated with the Eagle Group

37-The Pfatschbacher carpet

38-Bausback-Herrmann-Austria

The Pfatschbacher carpet,first published by Ulrich Schürmann in CAR,invariably comes off a close second in the literature,although Hali felt it was the better piece(Hali 49-88)exacter than the second example, often considered the more "spontaneous" of the two.Both carpets are Persian knotted, open left;the first rug has all-wool structure(brown and beige)the second has wool and white cotton.Both carpets are more coarsely knotted than any of the Eagle Group.They both employ a kind of squarish C-Göl with characteristic fins,and a second,equally large Göl which also occurs on the Ballard carpet.This shield type design has small Holbein-like corner cusps.On the Pfatschbacher a strange and unknown Göl makes a one-time appearance in the first row.White stepped Polygons function as minor Göls.In the first rug they vary in size between field and Göl-centre;in the second carpet they are the same size.This alters the look of both carpets in a significant way.The Pfatschbacher combines the two border types of the Eagle II Group.The second carpet was sold at Rippon Boswell`s on 18 November 1989,Lot 118,for $50,394.Both rugs have more to do with the Archaic Poly-Gol Yomut Group,and the C-Göl carpets,than with the Eagles.


Peter Hoffmeister has published an interesting carpet in the catalogue of his collection

39-Hoffmeister 87

It shares the structure of an Eagle I with the design layout of an Eagle II(unless it has been cut and joined,not just in the field,but also at both ends of the field)

A carpet once in the possession of the English Collector Hartley Clarke was eventually sold at Rippon Boswell`s in 2004(15 May,Lot 95)for $34,250.Its chequered history can be read in Hali 136-118.
Clarke published the rug in his 1922 handbook.Devoid of Eagles,it has the structure of a Group  II.

40-Hartley Clarke 1922,page 99

The Yomut carpet published by E.Herrmann in SOT VII,plate 77  is a Turkish-knotted version mixing elements of the Eagle I and II field layouts

41-SOT VII-77

Last but not least a fragment illustrated by George O`Bannon with Group I design, Group III structure and an unknown Main Göl interior.

42-Millberg Collection

                                                                               

43-Mike Isberian

THE ASMALYKS

Clear favourites for inclusion are the two pieces,presumably a pair,which surfaced at Rippon Boswell`s on 11 May 1991

44-Rippon Boswell 11 May 1991-Lot 127

They brought 14 and 12,000 DM respectively at auction.They were designated as Group II,with Persian Knot to the right and a mix of cotton/wool in the weft.The Stand-Alone Kotchanaks at the apex are typical,as is the hour-glass amulette border,also featured in a group of Demi-Göl Torbas.

45-Pinner Sale RB 15-May 2004-Lot 59

Robert Pinner`s piece has the standard trefoil border and an Eagle II structure.It sold for a derisory 4600 euro in Wiesbaden.

Earlier in 1991,Thomas Baker published an asmalyk which had come via Edelman in 1991,and Raymond Benardout in 1978

46-Oriental Rug Review-XI-6-55

Structurally a Group II,but with cramped drawing.Much better is an asmalyk from the Loges book,which is however Turkish-knotted

47-Loges Plate 45

A further three Eagle Asmalyks were sold at Rippon-Boswell`s with the "Adler"certificate

48-RB 18 November 2000-Lot 30

This had been published in the July 1996 issue of Hali(Nr.87-page 129)by Ronnie Newman.According to Hali(115-150)it sold for $ 7800,but was not listed in the official results.In 2009 another example appeared at Rippon-Boswell

49-RB 23 May 2009-Lot 13

This has a companion in the Berlin Islamic Museum,donated by Irmgard Bidder,wife of the collector Hans Bidder.It sold for 2440 euro.A last item was bought in in Wiesbaden against an estimate of 9000 euro.

50-RB 28 May 2011-Lot 199

The last two pieces show the decline in this end of the market.Robert Pinner`s rug starts to look like a huge bargain.Note that all the pieces shown here are Group II-a Group I eagle asmalyk has not yet appeared.There are many pretenders to the Eagle throne,epecially amongst the smaller weavings,where Falkens,Owls, Sparrows,and even Budgerigars and Parrots have been palmed off as Eagles.Many pieces are impossible to identify without technical information.Here is a selection of candidates




Chuvals.

51-Courtesy of  George Gilmore

 Another two 9 Göl Chuvals have been attributed

52-Sienknecht Collection 41

The above has a Persian knot right,and is described as "Adler 2".Unfortunately the weft descriptions are missing throughout the book.

The above with a Persian Knot right,and a weft of wool and cotton,seems to be a likely candidate,but is otherwise atypical.

The Gilmore Chuval is a welcome new discovery

53-George Gilmore

A 16-Göl Group has been tentatively outlined by Hans Sienknecht.However,as these pieces only appear in his own catalogue,and at least one has been defined elsewhere as Tekke,the attribution is conjectural

54-HCS Collection-43

This choval was published in the Thompson Sale catalogue as Tekke(Sothebys 16.12.1993-plate 17).A question-mark accompanies the HCS description.

55-HCS-45

The above described as Eagle 2,with persian Knot open right,but no weft analysis.The Hour-Glass border and brownish ground look promising.

Two chuvals with a chevron design have also been designated as Eagle group,but tech info is lacking

56-Skinners 19 September 1990-Lot 160

57-David Reuben

Four Kizil Chuvals have been assigned

58-TM-Gift of John Irvine-Group II

59-Bogolubov-Atlantic Collections 127-Group II

60-Hoffmeister Collection 91

The varying attributions here seem non-relevant.More importantly,the carpets are 100% knotted,without any flatwoven bands in the field.This is also a great speciality of the Tekke,of which at least 6 examples are known.

Another type of Chuval sharing a common design with the Tekke has oval Göls and an hourglass border

61-HCS Collection-44

Herr Sienknecht`s example is a venerable representative of this group,although he also shows a cut Tekke version with a very similar Gestalt

62-HCS Collection 85

Sari of Karlsruhe also offered a very similar item,with what look like traces of white cotton weft in the exposed zone

63-Sari

A related batch of trappings features an ovoid Göl with scalloped Eli Belindes

64-HCS Collection 46

65-Haji Baba Collection-41

66-New England Rug Society

67-Turkmen 59

A distinguished family of trappings are the Diamond Göl group.They come in groups of one,two and three full rows

68-ATT 5-97C

Mr.Herrmann rarely published fragments

69-Rob van Wieringen

The above from a Dutch dealer later went to Motamedi in Hamburg.

70-Haliden

The latest of the "two full rows"type was purchased at a small English country auction by the intrepid rugonauts at Haliden.See the APG in Hali 171-124.

71-HCS 50

Sold at the same Sothebys auction as the cut two-row fragment above,this was described by H-C Sienknect as Eagle I-?.It is Persian knotted left with depressed warps.Back in May 1984 it fetched $7,700 in an after-sale deal,and later passed to Udo Langauer.

72-Bausback-75,page 194

This cut fragment has lost two rows in the width.It sold at Nagels on 16 May 2000(Lot 132)for $10,955,and was published afterwards by Bausback.Nagels gives Persian knot,left;Bausback Persian knot right;Hali APG (112-152)Eagle I.Brown woolen wefts.

73-ATT 2-60

Published by Eberhart Herrmann who gives Persian knot left,with two brown wefts.

The "Diamond Göl"design had a second life in a group of carpets probably made in Northern  Afghanistan by the Sakar Turkmen(see Klieber page 172)These have lately attracted some attention since a piece from the Menzel Collection(see Loges 107)sold at Rippon Boswell`s
for $4,075

74-RB 26 November 2011-Lot 11

An item from the Dudin collection is more successful

75-ORR 11-12-1990,page 92

One last item published by Jon Thompson in "Timbuktu"may or may not belong.There is no tech info available.However it is quite "finely brown"

76-Timbuktu 34

The Torbas

There are four type of eagle torbas,with Aksu,Memling,Palmette and Peacock designs.The Aksu Group are the most common,with 27 examples on view here.For ease of reference they have been divided by ascending rows.

5 Rows

77-Sothebys NY 25.11.08-Lot 86

The above was previously with Ronnie Newman and sold at Sothebys for $23,750.According to Sothebys it had all-cotton wefting

78-Ronnie Newman

A second 5 row example showed up at the Dorotheum

79-Dorotheum 14.09.2010-70b

where it sold(together with another torba)for 1500 euro.

6 Rows

The Julian Homer piece sold at Christies in 1989 for $5,350

80-Christies 8 April 1989-Lot 126

It was eventually re-auctioned at Rippon Boswells on 19 May 2007(Lot 41)for $12,205

81-Turkmen  58

The above from the Howard Risvold Collection features a minor guard more usually found on some main carpets.Brown woolen wefts.

82-Thatcher

From the collection of Amos Thatcher,plate 8.

Not surprisingly,the models with 7 rows are the most common.9 examples are shown here

83-Lefevre 10-83

84-Atlantic Collections 213

85-Atlantic Collections 214

86-Washington ICOC 20

87-Ronnie Newman

88-Thompson 52

89-Nagels 11 November 1995-Lot 1184

8 Rows

90-Eskenazi 272

91-Lefevre March 1983

92-Grote Hasenbalg III-91

93-Rippon Boswell 10 November 1984-84

94-Turkmenhaly 38

95-Rugs of the Inner Circle

9 Rows

96-After Rossetti

Sold at Nagels on 13 October 1990-Lot 432-for 8500 DM

97-Christies

Sold at Christies 22 January 1991(Lot 25)-estimate $2000-3000.Sold for $1950.

98-RB 2005

Sold at Rippon Boswells 28 May 2005(Lot 42) for $13,555.

99-Grogans

Sold at Grogans 12 January 2009(Lot 51) for $10,925.

100-Elmby 

The pair published by Hans Elmby in his second catalogue(28)and now in the Hoffmeister Collection(89)

101-Hans-Christian Sienknecht Collection-49

102-Alan Marcuson Hali 2-4-272

There are some very beautiful panels with the Memling Göl design,but their origins are uncertain.

A piece in the Dudin collection looks promising

103-Dudin

Another from Moshkowa surely fits

104-Moshkowa(O`Bannon) 102

Hans Sienknecht was not sure about his Adler proposal,which is depressed warp open to the right

105-HCS Collection 53

Another piece with the same rare border has been exhibited

106

Then there are a group of "Yomut" weavings which may or may not belong,first and foremost being the Jon Thompson piece

107-Thompson

Sold on 16 December 1993(Lot 48) at Sothebys NY for $10,925.

108-Benardout

The above formerly with Raymond Benardout,and subsequently sold at Sothebys NY on 4 June 1988(Lot 94) for $5500.Could be the pair to the Thompson.

A third example with Thomas Cole

109-Thomas Cole,Imprints,plate 8

Winged Palmette Design.

An exquisite group of torbas,5 in number,with a design similar to that seen on the Elems of the 9-Gol Eagle Chuvals

110-Loges 55

111-Budapest,from:Ledacs,Nr.55

112-Zia Bozoglu

113-Hoffmeister Collection-136

great was the outcry when a similar design was discovered on the elem of Michael Grogan`s Salor Ensi

114-Grogans 22 May 2011-Lot 805

Even more surprising was the appearance of an Ersari version at Rippon-Boswell`s in 2000

115-RB 18 November 2000-Lot 37

Especially considering that the same sale also contained a real Eagle torba with this design

116-RB 55-37

The above selling for $8,315.


A carpet,split into two fragments,is also known

117-Stockholm ICOC

118-Sari,Karlsruhe

The Ersari group with Eagle design numbers at least 5 pieces.H-C Sienknecht has one,via Christies,and another is in the Victoria & Albert Museum,London.

Even more rarified are a group of torbas and Kapunuks with an Avian-Octagon design,named here the Peacock Group

119-Hoffmeister Collection plate 135

The above first surfaced at Sothebys in 1988,and was sold for $28,600.Later with Jim Blackmon,it is now in the Hoffmeister Collection.

A second example was published in the "Turkmen"Catalogue,from the Gilbert Collection

120-Turkmen-57

 third example appeared in the Milan ICOC catalogue of 1999

121-Sovrani,113

A fourth torba appeared at the English Auctioneers Locke & England in 2011,and was sold for $26,650.It later appeared at the Stockholm ICOC with Motamedi of Hamburg.

122-Motamedi

A last example in Kapunuk form was published in the O`Bannon translation of Moshkova,plate 109,and is now in the museum in Ashkabad

123-Ashkabad

Trappings.

A group of jollars,24 in number, functioned as bags or trappings.
These are long narrow bags,larger than conventional torbas.Again the proximity to the Tekke orbit is clear.
The pieces all feature a "Demi-Göl" design,suggesting an infinite repeat.They can be divided by border into 3 Groups.The most common is an Ersari-like 4 Leaf Clover design.

An early mention in Hali of the Eagle Göl Group was a description of Julian Homer`s piece,sold at his Christies Sale on 8 April 1989(Hali 45-84)

124-Christies

The Homer piece sold for $15,950,but the price was topped two years later at Wiesbaden

125-Rippon Boswell  16 November 1991-Lot 108

Selling for $17,510,the rug was later exhibited by Nomadic Rug Traders in Australia.

Failing to sell at Rippon Boswell on the 15th May 2004,the following was re-auctioned at Wiesbaden on 20 May 2006((Lot 36) for just 3800 euro

126

In the 2004 catalogue the secondary motif was christened the "Satellite Göl".Apart from their larger size and different borders,this Göl is the obvious difference between the Eagle and the Tekke models,which employ a chemche as secondary


A second group with Kotchak border comprises 4 examples

127-Hoffmeister 137

From the Thompson Sale via Hans Elmby,and twice at Sothebys before selling on 11 June 2002(Lot 34)for $13,835.

128-Langauer Hali 168

From Udo Langauer

129-HCS 48

First published by Herrmann in SOT 8(102a),and offered at his show in 1986 for 32,000 DM,this later entered the Sienknecht collection and then passed to Kurt Muncasi(Timbuktu 35)

Two pieces are known with a curled-leaf border

130-ORR 10-3-22

Erich Menzel`s Eagle II torba has a border seen on some Tekke 6 Göl pieces

131-Gewebt & Geknüpft 1-3-23

A piece published by Jon Terry in Hali 103,although not a fastidious Eagle,is nevertheless a real heart-thumper

132-Arabatchi-Persian knotted left?

Four other pieces do not quite fit into the above categories,although the item sold at Sothebys in 2010-for $23,750-does have the Swastika border,but without the Kotchaks

133-Sothebys 7 December 2010-Lot 53

Meanwhile over at Ashkabad Mrs Moshkova`s torba has a classic Yomut border

134-Moshkowa(O `Bannon)-112-Ashkabad Museum

Robert Pinner`s example sold at Rippon Boswell for 7300 euro.It has main carpet borders and two interesting quincunx ornaments on both lower corners

135-Rippon Boswell,Pinner Sale 15 May 2004-Lot 61

The fourth rug is in the deYoung Museum San Francisco as a gift from George & Marie Hecksher.It was inexplicably described as a "mafrash" by Peter Poullada in his Hali 143 article,although it measures 120 x 46 cms

136-Hali 143-79

A group of rugs with "classic" Turkmen Göls rounds off this section

137-Rippon Boswell 15 May 2004-Lot 112

Said to have languored in a Leipzig Collection for many years,this sold on the day for $68,500.Assigned to either Group I or III,Hali described it as woven without a back,although Detlef Maltzahn`s catalogue entry reports the opposite.In mint condition.

Sold in 2008 at the same auction house for $40,800

138-Rippon Boswell 24 May 2008-Lot 128

A torba at the Robert Pinner sale had no cut Göls,but was Persian knotted right and ascribed Eagle II.It sold for 5000 euro

139-Rippon Boswell,Pinner Sale,15 May 2004-Lot 92

Its rare border can be seen on the Sienknecht and Dudin Memling Göl Eagle torbas,as well as on a Saryk torba sold at Skinners,which also sported-coincidentally?-a Memling Göl

140-Skinners 23 April 1994-Lot 31

The English dealer David Reuben attributed his example to Eagle II

141-Reuben-Göls and Guls II-43

A rug published by Adraskand lately re-appeared in the possession of Ronnie Newman

142-Hali 28

143-Ronnie Newman

Hans Elmby`s quaint fragment boasts two full and two half-Göls,attributed to Eagle II

144-Elmby II-30

A piece from Michael Franses with peikam border concludes this section

145-Hali 2-4-page 65

Tentbands.

Some readers may have become aware of the Eagle Tentbands in an advertisement from Mark Keshishian in Hali 6/1-12,back in 1983.It is a classic example displaying the bland nobility of the Group

146-Keshishian

147-HCS Collection

Radial designs in panels distinguish the Group as a whole,plus the use of silk wefting.

A piece from the Azadi Collection sold at Rippon Boswell on 11 May 2002 for $16,235,but failed to find a buyer on its return on November 2008

148-Rippon Boswell

The same auction house offered a further example on 5 December 2009,which had previously been exhibited at the TM and published by Richard Isaacson in the accompanying catalogue

149-Ghereh 48-73

selling for 19,520 euro.

Another example surfaced at the Dorotheum in 2010

150-14.09.2010-Lot 28

The above selling for 7500 euro.




No Ensis are known,but an ideal model might look like this

151-HCS 84

the above purchased at Nagels on 17 October 1992-Lot 2191 for $8,950

152-Hali 164-115

Whoever the Eagle makers were,the best of their work is on par with the most exalted of Turkmen productions.They were able to invent their own vocabulary,based on what is surely a kind of Tekkified Yomut,and were aware of other artistic movements in the Turkmen world. Some creations are uniquely their own,including the Eagle Göl itself,the Bird-Octagon Göl with its Anatolian atavism,and the Diamond Göl Trappings.The lack of any assignable Ensi is perhaps an indicator of their more urban origins.

Why did General Bogolubov instinctively associate the Main carpet Göl with a spread-eagle?He was surely thinking of the Russian symbol of state,the double-headed eagle,which entered Russia during the 15th century via the Byzantines.The Seljuk Turks  incorporated the symbol into their Heraldic world fom the 11th century onwards.It has been a powerful image since Millenia.

153

Bogolyubov-Carpets of Central Asia

Cole,Tom-Imprints

Elmby,Hans-Antique Turkmen Carpets I-V

Grote-Hasenbalg,Werner-Der Orientteppich

Hali 112-79-Eagle Göl Carpets

Hali 155-59-The Dyrnak Motif,by David Reuben

Hali 156-54-Qizilbash from Khorasan,by Peter Poullada

ICOC-Pacific & Atlantic Collections

Isaacson,Richard,Architectural Textiles(Tent Bands)

Klieber,Helmut-Turkestan

Loges,Werner-Turkmenische Teppiche

Moshkova,trans. George O `Bannon

McMullan-Islamic Carpets

Neugebauer & Orendi-Handbuch der Orientalischen Teppichkunde

Oriental Rug Review,XI-6-48- Ned Long and George O `Bannon review  the 

Pinner & Eiland-Between the Black Desert and the Red-the Wiedersperg Collection 

Reuben,David-Gols and Guls II

Rossetti,Brigitte-Die Turkmenen

Rippon Boswell,Wiesbaden,15 May 2004-The Pinner Sale

Schürmann,Ulrich-Central Asian Rugs

Sienknecht Collection-Sammlung HCS-Hodenhagen 1997

Sothebys New York,Thompson Sale 16 December 1993

Sothebys-Loges Sale,London 19th October 1994

Thompson,Jon,and Mackie,Louise-Turkmen

Thompson-Timbuktu to Tibet

Tsareva,Elena-Turkmen Carpets,the Hoffmeister Collection

Turkmenhaly-Ashgabat Museum 2006