A Uzbek Lakai cover of beige cotton, finely embroidered with chain stitch in beige, pink, and pale blue silk with solar motifs, lined with a red leaf printed cotton, 52.5cm x 49cm excluding fringe, (As-155). Bought Bukhara, 1999. In my pursuit of the Afghan amulet, and after managing to get into Afghanistan and Iran, I badly wanted to go to Central Asia to continue looking for motifs and amulets. This was 1994 and it was impossible to get visas, except for groups or businessmen, and especially so for a woman alone. I went to see Omar Massom, Turkmen, who at that time worked for Joss Graham in his gallery, to see if he could help. We were talking in the back office - and he was telling me not to go - when two men walked in and enquired about a suzani. They were from the travel company Steppes East and promised to get me visas, if I would plan a textile tour for them. I never dreamt they would expect me to lead it, and accepted the offer. I wandered around Central Asia and was mugged in Bukhara, and then beaten up in Kunya Urgench and finished up in hospital in Dashauz. This was like a Victorian prison and had no water and no food. The gash on my forehead was sewn up and I asked the doctors to get hold of the Steppes East rep in Tashkent to get me home. It took him three days to get to Dashauz. Meanwhile, an Indian working there for a German company who sent him food brought me some every day. I offered to pay the doctor and give him all the dollars I had left, which I now wouldnÆt need - about $200. He refused saying there was absolutely nothing they could buy with it anyway. The rep for Steppes East flew me to Tashkent and put me on the flight to England. My face was still covered with dried blood. The doctors at the John Radcliffe said it had been sewn up with æold rope, we wouldnÆt even use on a legÆ, but that it had been well done. Once mended, I flew back to Central Asia and wandered around, eventually going down to Islamabad. I wrote about these travels in The Golden Horde. The next year (1995) I took my first textile tour to Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan and then continued to take at least one each year until 2004. It wasnÆt always easy for me to buy good textiles as I had to let the group buy what they wanted first, as I was only there at their expense. In the early years there was a lot of good stuff around, both textiles and jewellery, especially in Ashgabat market , but by the time I ended the tours there was mostly rubbish - bags and cushions made for tourists out of old embroideries. However, there were still good pieces to be found in Bukhara, and occasionally in Samarkand. Dealers would also save special things for me, as they were grateful for the business I brought.
A Uzbek Lakai cover of beige cotton, finely embroidered with chain stitch in beige, pink, and pale blue silk with solar motifs, lined with a red leaf printed cotton, 52.5cm x 49cm excluding fringe, (As-155). Bought Bukhara, 1999. In my pursuit of the Afghan amulet, and after managing to get into Afghanistan and Iran, I badly wanted to go to Central Asia to continue looking for motifs and amulets. This was 1994 and it was impossible to get visas, except for groups or businessmen, and especially so for a woman alone. I went to see Omar Massom, Turkmen, who at that time worked for Joss Graham in his gallery, to see if he could help. We were talking in the back office - and he was telling me not to go - when two men walked in and enquired about a suzani. They were from the travel company Steppes East and promised to get me visas, if I would plan a textile tour for them. I never dreamt they would expect me to lead it, and accepted the offer. I wandered around Central Asia and was mugged in Bukhara, and then beaten up in Kunya Urgench and finished up in hospital in Dashauz. This was like a Victorian prison and had no water and no food. The gash on my forehead was sewn up and I asked the doctors to get hold of the Steppes East rep in Tashkent to get me home. It took him three days to get to Dashauz. Meanwhile, an Indian working there for a German company who sent him food brought me some every day. I offered to pay the doctor and give him all the dollars I had left, which I now wouldnÆt need - about $200. He refused saying there was absolutely nothing they could buy with it anyway. The rep for Steppes East flew me to Tashkent and put me on the flight to England. My face was still covered with dried blood. The doctors at the John Radcliffe said it had been sewn up with æold rope, we wouldnÆt even use on a legÆ, but that it had been well done. Once mended, I flew back to Central Asia and wandered around, eventually going down to Islamabad. I wrote about these travels in The Golden Horde. The next year (1995) I took my first textile tour to Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan and then continued to take at least one each year until 2004. It wasnÆt always easy for me to buy good textiles as I had to let the group buy what they wanted first, as I was only there at their expense. In the early years there was a lot of good stuff around, both textiles and jewellery, especially in Ashgabat market , but by the time I ended the tours there was mostly rubbish - bags and cushions made for tourists out of old embroideries. However, there were still good pieces to be found in Bukhara, and occasionally in Samarkand. Dealers would also save special things for me, as they were grateful for the business I brought.
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.jpg "Quelle: Christie's")
.jpg "Quelle: Christie's")
