Right
Betty Prisch and Marvin Amstey
Left
Mr. and Mrs. Vartan Devarian, teachers of the Amsteys
In the United States, a long time has passed since we have been fortunate to view a major display of mostly Turkoman weavings, but this hiatus has ended with the September 14 opening of "Vanishing Jewels: Central Asian Tribal Weavings," an exhibition of rugs from the collection of Marvin and Frederica Amstey. We find ourselves doubly fortunately in that the exhibit also is accompanied by a good catalog containing informative articles by experts in their fields of study.
The location of the exhibit, the Rochester (New York) Museum and Science Center, suggests that the approach to the material might be somewhat different from that of the usual textile display, and indeed this proved to be the case. Betty C. Prisch, curator of Anthropology, sees the utilitarian aspect of each weaving type, and has planned the show accordingly.
This exhibition may be approached three ways: through its presentation at the museum; through its catalog; and through the artistic merit of the pieces presented. We plan to address each aspect separately.
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An art museum it is not. Rose-beige broadloom carpet extends up the wall in several viewing areas and kills the tones of weavings displayed against it. Baluch and Turkoman weavings, each with its unique palette, are intermingled to the detriment of each. A foot rail three or four feet from the wall prevents touching (or even close inspection) and impairs the viewer's relation to the work.
But the target audience here is not the rug connoisseur; it is the public: parents who will bring their children to the museum on Saturday morning to show them the strange and beautiful things that other cultures have created. Will the children (and the parents) learn? Our guess is that they will. In this most important objective, Ms. Prisch has succeeded.
The exhibit is enhanced by an extensive display of types of silver jewelry worn by Turkoman women. The pieces, loaned by Mr. and Mrs. Tamor Shah of Atlanta, Georgia, provide an interesting contrast to the weavings.
Each of the 54 pieces is illustrated in good color, and the text is well illustrated with black-and-white photographs provided by Dr. Irons. A map of the area is provided but appears to have escaped proper editing. Among other shortcomings, no scale is provided, the Akhal and Khorezm are not properly located, the Greater Balkhan Mountains and the Uzboy have been shifted eastward, and the latter does not appear to be referenced or defined in the text.
Pieces are shown one to a page and are accompanied by a technical description and a brief but adequate commentary. We would have preferred that the author omit the twist and ply data (just about everything is Z2S) and instead comment regularly on warp depression, which we find to be a more useful identifying characteristic; only two pieces are identified as having depressed warps (#17, "depressed"; #48, "40% depressed"). A handy two-page glossary completes the 128-page catalog.
We expect many collectors of Turkoman weaving will purchase the catalog particularly for the new information on the history of the Turkoman tribes that Mr. Woods presents. His paper draws on works of Soviet writers not now available in English, as well as from sources known in part to many western collectors. His survey covers the period from the mid-18th century to the early 20th century, and the results emphasize the high mobility of the major weaving tribes.
Dr. Irons' paper continues his observations of Yomud (Yomut -- "Yo, mutt" -- is how one calls the family dog) family and community life, which he first reported to the rug world in 1980. (See Turkmen: Tribal Carpets and Traditions, Louise W. Mackie and Jon Thompson, eds. The Textile Museum, Washington, D.C.) This articles describes the placement and use of woven and other household objects within the tent. We are introduced to the teler, a large decorated wooden shelf found on the side of the tent occupied by the women, and the only wooden "furniture." We wonder if the teler is a recently developed accessory and if it is used by other tribes.
Dr. Mushak surveys dye studies he has performed on Turkoman weavings and traces the wide variability in hue of dyes obtained from the madder plant to variations in proportions of natural dye components in the plant. His point is illustrated by analyses of samples taken from six of the exhibited weavings. He also cites his prior work showing that the relative amounts of aluminum and iron salts in the mordants also can affect the hue of madder dye.
Mr. O'Bannon provides a survey article on the weavers and weavings of Central Asia that is an accessible starting point for the novice as well as a convenient summary of current theories for the established rug collector. The text is always accessible without being condescending. The article includes a page and a half on the Baluch people, the only textual reference to a group that woven over 20 percent of the pieces on display here. The thoughtful catalog commentary on each weaving is also written by Mr. O'Bannon. Ms. Prisch summarizes the importance of woven objects in the everyday life of the nomadic and semi-settled Central Asian tribes. Her grouping of the material by function is well done, given the educational objective of the museum and the probable limits of this (or any) collection.
Fortunately, the brief biographical sketch of the Drs. Amstey given in the catalog may be supplemented by reading an interview of Marvin Amstey that appeared in Oriental Rug Review (10/6). Six pieces appearing in the exhibit illustrate the interview.
The first item, a Yomud asmalyk, is to our taste the most attractive of the three pentagonal pieces that begin the exhibit. The drawing and colors are good, and the condition is excellent. An embroidered Tekke piece (#3) illustrated in the ORR interview, runs a close second. Small, square Turkoman rugs are often referred to by field investigators as "bride's rugs" and are reported to be part of the marriage paraphernalia. They also became popular commercial items, and it is rare to find one of the quality of item #4.
A beautiful yellow chirpy (#5) is draped in a plastic case that allows close examination of the embroidered details. Near this excellent piece is a suzani (#6) of exceptional color and careful workmanship.
The opposite wall of this display area is hung with six prayer rugs, five of Baluch and one of Beshir manufacture. Around the corner we encounter four Baluch khorjin faces. Among the latter, we found #18 the most attractive because of its extensive and attractive use of white wool.
A complete Turkoman khorjin (#20), woven in a mixed technique style similar to the ak chuval design, is, in our judgment, one of the stars of the exhibition. It is difficult at this time to propose a time or place for the manufacture of this piece. Ak chuvals appear to have been made into the 20th century, and ones we consider older because of absence of synthetic dye and greater sense of space also employ somewhat different designs in the narrow pile strips (note fragment #35, which we think is an early weaving). Our guess is that this khorjin is closer to the later group, but it is nonetheless a beautiful work.
A detail of a handsome turret-gul Tekke juval (#27) provides the design for the cover of the catalog. It is a good piece created at the height of what might be called the Tekke baroque era. Continuing the analogy, the beautiful but later and more crowded compartment gul bagface (#31) might be considered a product of a Tekke rococo period.
We suspect that weavings #27 and #31, as well as the four ensi examples, were purchased early in the Amsteys' collecting days. The market of the early 1970s favored highly ornamented Tekke weaving, and those who could afford one sought out a Saryq ensi. Today many of us find the less busy weavings have retained our interest longer and find most Saryq ensis rather ugly. Item #32 is, to our eyes, the more appealing of the two Ersari juvals, just as we find #34 the most pleasing of the three Yomud juvals.
If item #31 is an example of Tekke rococo weaving and #27 an example of the Tekke baroque, then surely the six gul torba (#46) represents the classic period of Tekke weaving. This piece excels in color, design, and execution, and wins our award for "best in show." However, its overall impact in the exhibition is lessened by the broadloom carpet background and by its proximity to a Baluch soffre (#44) of contending colors.
Immediately following #46 are a pretty Ersari rug (#45), a truly attractive Chodor torba (#47) (many Chodor weavings have unpleasant colors), and a brightly colored Ersari torba (#48) in an ikat design. The next three pieces are interesting for their rarity. Item #49, a perhaps unique brocaded storage bag face, will appeal especially to those who study flatweaves. The Tekke torba with the meander border (#50) is otherwise unexceptional. We would agree that item #51, a Tekke torba with 12 octagon guls, is probably old. Nevertheless, we find the complicated design rather busy for our taste.
A Kazakh (Uzbek?) bag (#52) with bold design and good colors completes our list of favorite pieces.
There are many other worthy items, though a very few are sufficiently below the general level that we are led to suspect the Drs. Amstey sought to balance the utilitarian groups at the expense of their own artistic judgment. In sum, the Drs. Amstey have presented a fine collection, and all concerned are to be congratulated both for the exhibit and for the catalog.
