This small Turkmen (sub-group Kizil Ayak) wedding trapping (or jollar) has been dated at about 1875 which makes it unusually early as there are no surviving examples which can be dated with certainty to before 1800.

The jollar is a small oblong weaving - varying from 25x112cm to 41x162cm - usually with a long fringe or tassels along the lower edge. Jollas were used for decorations, such as upon the backs of wedding camels or, when the wedding was over, they could be given a backing and thus utilised as a storage bag inside the tent.

The design is interesting in that the gul closely resembles Ersari examples but many of the features by which Kizil Ayak weaving is identified are present, even down to the inclusion of a tiny piece of pink silk which is probably all that the weaver could afford. Designs such as this, with guls (the large motifs) based on a grid pattern, most certainly had their origins in ikat weaving. The dyes are all natural which makes for the wonderful depth of colour in the piece (especially the brilliant red), and are extremely long lasting. Synthetic dyes probably did not reach the area until after the construction of the Transcaspasian Railroad in 1886.

Wedding trapping (jollar), wool, pile weave, Kizil Ayak Turkmen, northern Afghanistan, 1880 - 1885

A rectangular pile weave wedding trapping, asymetrically knotted and with both dark blue selvedges intact. The pattern is also asymetrical, featuring two and a half large guls (motifs) of geometric design, with a fourth large gul offset in the bottom left hand corner and smaller guls between. The geometric design of the guls themselves is based on a grid of small squares. The trapping is bound with black wool along the top edge immediately over the pile and close to the outer guard stripe, while the lower edge has a flat woven strip which is turned under and tacked down.

The design of this small wedding trapping or jollar is typical of Turkmen weavings in that it features large and small guls, or motifs, framed by a border comprising a main stripe between narrower guard stripes. The guls are quite geometric, being composed on a grid of small squares, and are thus unusually reminiscent of Central Asian ikat patterns, which are tied and dyed into the warps in small square units.

The gul used in this carpet appears to be unusual in that there are no similar published examples of Kizil Ayak design. However, it does resemble examples found in Ersari weaving - of which the Kizil Ayak are a sub-group.

This trapping displays the normal characteristics of Kizil Ayak weaving. It utilises the assymetrical knot open to the right, a light brown wool weft and wool pile; the warp is always of light undyed wool and there are sometimes small areas of silk - all of which features are present in this peice. The warp selvedges are usually wound with wool of the major colour of the piece (however here the colour is indigo). Along the top edge, the cut warps have been bound tightly in dark brown wool which is most probably not original. The lower edge has a plain weave strip, along which decorative tassels would have once been tied but are now missing.

The dyes are all natural with madder, lac and cochineal used for the reds. The very intense red was probably a result of adding cochineal to the madder. The blue is indigo, the browns most likely natural wools and the yellow would have come from either the delphinium sulphureum or weld (mignonette).

c 1885

This small textile, called a 'jollar' in Afghanistan, was made to serve as a wedding trapping. With or without a backing, they had decorative tassels and were used to bedeck animals for wedding ceremonies and when given a backing after the wedding, they could be put to domestic use as a storage bag to hang in the tent.
Purchased in Afghanistan by the donor Cito Cessna about 1970.

Donated by RB and MM Cessna through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program, 2002

2002/143/1

1870

365 mm

1420 mm

10 mm