Beschreibung:

A pale green silk chyrpy, kesdi in red and yellow tulip patterns, 109cm long excluding fringe, (As-95). æExtremely rare - Ashgabat museum were amazed IÆd found it - it was just lying on the sand in the market, but the people refused to come down in price, knowing it was special.Æ Bought Ashgabat market, 1995 A few of my Turkmen embroideries were bought in Afghanistan in 1992. They are made by Turkmen living in both in Turkmenistan itself and in Afghanistan. I first went to Turkmenistan by train from Russia in 1994, a journey I described in The Golden Horde. Ashgabat (Ashkabad) was then as I described it in the book - an insignificant grid town rebuilt after the earthquake of 1948. In the ten years since, when I have taken a textile tour each year, it has grown into a ridiculous Disney town with massive and useless marble buildings (Arch of Neutrality, Hall of Independence), fountains that deprive whole quarters of the city of running water, gold statues, and blown-up photos of Niyazov Saparmurad (Turkmenbashi) on every building. His hair on these was first grey but then changed to black. He considered himself immortal but died in his 60s (in 2007?) I donÆt know what has happened to all the gold statues and huge portraits since. When I first went to Turkmenistan, I met an actress Jahan, in Ashgabat, who took me to the Sunday market. At that time there were no tourists at all, whereas ten years later there were quite a lot, particularly French and Italian. Jahan was exiled soon after I met her because her company were putting on a Shakespearean play (I think King Lear) and Turkmenbashi wanted them to rewrite it so that he was the hero. They refused and were exiled, no one knows where to.