Afghan Ersari 1545

This authentic vintage Afghan Ersari room-size rug from the second quarter of the 20th century features a classic allover geometric composition in a highly sought-after camel hair palette. The field is organized with repeating octagonal gul medallions — rendered in deep navy and midnight blue against a warm camel hair ground of extraordinary natural warmth and luminosity. The exceptional quality of the Ersari wool — naturally lustrous and finely spun — creates a subtle shimmer under changing light and a remarkably soft, almost silk-like hand.

The Ersari are the largest of the Turkmen tribal confederacies, their weavings distinguished by their larger gul format, their use of camel hair, and a design vocabulary that draws on both the mainstream Turkmen tradition and the influences of the Afghan and Central Asian cultures among which they lived. Room-size Ersari rugs in camel hair are among the most impressive and sought-after pieces in the Central Asian collecting world. Turkmen rugs, woven by the nomadic and semi-nomadic tribal peoples of Central Asia — principally the Tekke, Yomut, Ersari, Saryk, and Salor — are among the most instantly recognizable and actively collected tribal textiles in the world. Distinguished by their deep, saturated crimson fields, their repeating octagonal gul medallions, their exceptionally fine high-density pile, and the extraordinary quality of their hand-spun and vegetable-dyed wool, Turkmen rugs combine geometric precision with a richness of material quality that has made them prized from the bazaars of Bukhara to the auction rooms of New York and London.

Dimensions: 8' 5" x 12' 10"

Date of Manufacture: 2nd Quarter of the 1900s

Place of Origin: Afghanistan (Ersari tribal region)

Material: Wool pile on a wool foundation with vegetable dyes and natural camel hair

Condition: Wear consistent with age and use

SKU: 1545