As was the case with the animal/tree piece, we have been given an opportunity to examine this asmalyk. We are pleased to provide first publication of it here.

These are among the rarest and most universally admired of Turkoman weavings. The literature on them is thin, with the definitive consideration of them appearing in Turkoman Studies I, "The Bird and Animal Tree Asmalyk," by Pinner and Franses. They record 12 known and published examples of the bird type.

Pinner and Franses divide these pieces into three groups based on seven features. To these features we would add four others to further distinguish them (see below). Clearly the Christie's piece belongs to the middle group, having several features common to it. The piece also has several unique features:

1. The secondary border changes from a standard "gyak on the bottom to a tegbent on the sides;
2. The tegbent is used as a filler motif in the spaces above the bird's backs and between the bud/stem;
3. A mihrab, or wedge, is used as an accent at the very top of the asmalyk.

Considering the age of the piece, it is in very good condition. The pile is barely worn, though there is some loss of knots, particularly on the left half of the piece into the main border. Small bits of kilim remain on the right. The right edge is perfect while the left shows minor wear. At the top the kilim are a couple of insignificant breaks but is essentially intact. It has the velvety, crisp feel of the finest Tekke weaving of this period. Though it does not show on the face, two blues are used, not in the usual diagonal arrangement but as horizontal chevrons, a feature not observed in other examples. The Smithsonian chair asmalyk is a comparable type.

This asmalyk does not match up as a mate to any other known example. There are two sets of bird asmalyks in the Ethnographic Museum in Leningrad, so they are known to have flown in pairs. We understand that the Christie's rug was bought in Egypt in the 1930s and has remained in the possession of one family until now. Though slightly marred through use, the rug has a mellowness of color and the sort of handle which is missing in unused, pristine rugs.

Press deadline has not allowed for a search of the literature for other examples which may have appeared since the Pinner/Franses article appeared in 1980, the exception being the Smithsonian chair bird asmalyk published for the first time in color in our Turkoman issue (Volume 8, Number 2). Through the kindness of the Smithsonian's Ms. Rodris Roth, we recently were given the opportunity to examine the chair and we are pleased to present aspects of its characteristics as well.

The bird asmalyk chair went to the Smithsonian from the Winans family of Baltimore. The Winanses were in Russia in connection with the construction of the Trans-Siberian railroad. Unconfirmed lore has it that the piece which ended up as the chair's covering was presented to the Winanses by Czar Nicholas I in 1851. It is known, however, that Winans family members continued to travel to Russia into the 1880s, so we must admit the possibility that the asmalyk was acquired as late as then.

[Editor's Note]: An art history aside; The Trans-Siberian Railroad was built under the direction of the father of the expatriate American painter James Abbott McNeil Whistler. Mr. Whistler was a brilliant army engineer (he brought the Siberian railroad to completion, considerably under budget and in two years against a construction deadline of three years). Given that brilliance he has still come down to us as Whistler's father, suffering the further indignity of being widely mistaken for Thomas Carlisle who insisted on having his portrait painted in the style of the famous "Whistler's Mother."

The chair bird asmalyk would appear to be at least a generation older than the Christie's rug, having more features in common with the early group. The drawing is more spacious and the weaver was apparently more skilled, having placed the vertical/center birds directly under the peak and ending at the top with a single diamond perch. The half birds on the side of the field are perfectly divided, e.g., front half of the bird on the left, back half on the right. The filler elements, other than the finely drawn complete animals, are eight pointed stars and a geometric device more usually found in flatweaves.

In most of these asmalyks one notes that the weavers could execute the curled leaf motif quite well in vertical side borders. (An exception is noted in the right side of the Christie's piece where one curl is not connected because the weaver forgot to reverse the direction of the curl.) It is in the bottom, horizontal border where most weavers had problems with this motif, with the curled leaf turning toward the field where it becomes awkwardly wide. This is quite apparent in the Christie's piece. The weaver of the chair piece resolved this draftsman's problem better than most.

The schema of the bird asmalyks is usually described as a diamond lattice within which a bird sits on a perch. This is correct for the late group because the bud/stem element evolve into a "line" which connects the lattice elements together. A careful analysis of the early and middle groups shows quite another pattern arrangement and features of the chair asmalyk have specific details that elaborate the possible original concept.

Starting at the bottom of the design as drawn in Figure 1, there are 1) three small tines representing roots. 2) a multicolored, triangularly shaped base, 3) the dark and light wedge shaped elements representing leaves, 4) the small hexagonal lozenge representing the trunk, 5) the bud/stem elements branching right and left with the buds in white and blue or in some pieces particolored, 6) the diamond perch, but more likely an open blossom with two projecting stamens or sepals, 7) the bird with its necklace, and at the base of the bird a red "T" connecting it to the diamond (this appears only in the chair asmalyk), and 8) the wing-shaped "bowl" atop the bird, the function of which remains a mystery. All of these elements are drawn with clarity and meticulous detailing.

Thus the design can be viewed as a bird sitting atop a flowering plant/shrub/tree which is repeated in a half-drop, offset repeat. In the early and middle groups the bud/stems do not connect to the adjacent units. In the late group and in the animal tree asmalyks, the bud/stem becomes connective, simplified, or merely a red line connecting the units into a lattice pattern. The "T" element of the chair piece, clearly visible on the back of the Smithsonian chair, challenges the idea that birds with legs were the earlier version.

It should be considered whether the asmalyks in which the birds have legs are the earliest, as presently thought, or are a transition towards simplification. The legs occupy the same space as the stamens and the weaver had to make a conscious decision which to use. The "T" may represent the curled under-feet of the bird at rest atop the plant. The Gogel piece illustrated in the Pinner/Franses article actually contains birds of both types. Further, the Gogel piece is the only one in which the birds with legs also have the split beak.

It should be noted that the Dudin/Ethnographic Museum pair do not have the split beak, have a simplified "bowl," and are the only examples in which the main body of the bird is ivory. In all others the body is primarily in one of the two blues. All of these could be considered transitional, later, or diviant features from the genotype.

Based on recent examination of one animal/tree and four bird asmalyks, the Smithsonian chair asmalyk appears to be one of the oldest of these weavings and possibly closest to the original design concept. The Christie's example is later but, except for the roots, "T" and necklace, contains all of the other elements consistent with mainstream Tekke bird asmalyks.

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS OF CHRISTIE'S ASMALYK Woven bottom side first Warp: Wool, ivory Weft: Wool, brown, two shoots Knot: Asymmetric, right, no depression, horizontal 10 ½, vertical 22, per square inch 220 Edge: Overcast, red wool Bottom: Mostly worn to pile, 2" of kilim remains Top: Red and white kilim, 1" turned under Colors: RUBY RED, light red, dark blue, blue green, white, brown Size: Width, 4,1"; height, (point) 2 ½"; sides 1, 6 ½"

TECHNICAL ANALYSIS OF CHAIR ASMALYK Woven bottom size first Warp: Wool, ivory Weft: Wool, brown, two shoots Knot: Asymmetric, right, no depression, horizontal 10, vertical 16, per square inch 160 Edge: Not visible Bottom: Not present Top: Not present Colors: RUST RED, orange red, dark blue, blue-green, white, brown Size: Width, 4' est.; height, (point) 2'8" est.; sides 2'