Turkoman Bokhara Carpet

This richly coloured carpet displays perhaps the most famous pattern associated with Oriental rugs. 

This hand-knotted Turkoman Bokhara carpet shows a rich red field and border colour. Look closely and you will discover a plethora of additional shades in this detailed carpet. The other colours include dark green, midnight blue, purple, orange and beige.

The design features a uniform repeating theme of emblems known as "guls". Historically, these "gul" motifs (which means flower) was representative of Turkoman tribes. Each tribe had it's own gul. This impressive Turkoman carpet contains 115 main guls within it. 

Find out some more about this Turkoman Bokhara carpet

This Bokhara carpet was hand-knotted in the vicinity of Ashkhabad, West Turkmenistan. 

The name Bokhara has evolved to describe rugs of the Tekke design. The Tekke were one of the largest and most powerful Turkoman tribes, and they settled in parts of Turkmenistan in the Nineteenth century.

As an important trading place, when Turkoman rugs started being exported in large numbers in the late Nineteenth century, the name Bokhara was applied to Turkoman rugs being exported to the West.

An old (and somewhat out-dated) trade term for this type of Bokhara Carpet is “Russian Bokhara”. This was from the Soviet era to differentiate between the authentic Turkoman Bokhara Rugs of Turkmenistan from Pakistan Bokhara Rugs, Afghan Bokhara Rugs and Persian Turkoman Rugs. A distinguishing feature of these Turkoman Bokhara Rugs is the use of green within the guls. 

What this Bokhara carpet is made from & how it was made

This Turkoman carpet was handmade from just wool. It has a finely hand-knotted wool pile, knotted onto woollen foundations (warp threads). This is another distinguishing feature of Turkoman Bokhara rugs is that they are only ever woven onto woollen warps. 

Nowadays, large Turkoman carpets like this are woven on vertical looms, but they are still made by age-old carpet making methods. The pile is still formed from hand-tied knots secured onto pairs of warp threads. The weavers tie the knots in rows spanning the width of the loom. Once the row of knots is completed, weft threads are inserted between the warps and are then compacted snugly against the line of knots. These tasks are repeated again and again until the carpet is completed. The precision of each of the coloured knots combine to create the pattern of the carpet. 

Where can you use this Turkoman carpet in your home?

This magnificent red Bokhara carpet would grace any room in which it is laid.

It's impressive size makes it a useful size for such settings as living room, library, study, or perhaps even dining room locations. 

To keep this Bokhara carpet looking pristine, consider using a rug underlay beneath it. Keeping it perfectly flat against the floor will help prevent any uneven wear as well as stopping slippage. 

Key details:

• Country of origin: Turkmenistan
• Size: 360×234cm / 11’10″x7’8″ (length measurement including Kilim end finishes is 371cm/12’2″, but not including the fringes)
• Thickness: 8mm
• Pile: Wool, hand-knotted
• Warp: Wool
• Age: Perhaps 20-30 years old, but with no signs of use