Without doubt, the most difficult area of carpet identification for collectors and dealers is that of the tribal rug and tribal artefact. Weavings particularly from the tribal belts of Iran, Afghanistan and Russia regularly cause confusion. Confusion and passionate disagreement, even amongst the experienced carpet dealers, has lead them to compromise with each other and identify carpets and rugs in general terms, such as, Iranian Balouch, Afghan Balouch, Russian Turkoman, etc. Here are only a few reasons why tribal carpets can cause so much confusion.
Many late 18th / 19th and early 20th century Iranian and Afghan Balouch weavers, originally being nomadic, roamed into each other's lands and settled. For example, an Iranian Balouch weaver crossed the border and settled in Afghanistan. The Iranian Balouch weaver continued to weave Iranian Balouch style rugs but inevitably, after time, the weaver introduced both subtle and heavy Afghan influences into the rug designs. The end result was a rug taking on the appearance of both an Iranian and Afghan Balouch rug. The ability to recognize and identify these types of tribal rugs require the viewing of the rug's technical attributions. This area of rug investigation rests with the carpet experts and not the novice or passive collector. However, the color combinations used by the Iranian Balouch and Afghan Balouch weavers differ. Classic Iranian Balouch rugs (particularly old rugs) found in the carpet shops in Jeddah will display soft hues of cherry red, blue, black, yellow, aubergine and natural ivory wool for highlighting. The Afghan Balouch weavers used varying amounts of bold and vibrant reds, dark and light browns, black, indigo blue and ivory for highlighting. Training the eye to distinguish these colors will help in making very elementary identifications of most Balouch rugs.
Another example of tribal confusion is where the general identification term 'Russian Turkoman' is used. This term is loosely used to describe any carpet, rug or tribal artefact that originates from Turkmenistan and where the dealer and/or collector have difficulty in attributing the textile to any one of the numerous weaving tribes from that country. The great weaving tribes of Turkmenistan include the Tekke, Yomut, Salor, Ersari, Saryk and Arabachi. It is possible, however, to identify with a fair amount of accuracy, weavings from the above-mentioned tribes. The main design feature used by all of the Turkoman tribes to decorate their carpets, rugs and tribal textiles are vertical rows of guls. Each tribe having its own distinctive gul, color palette, construction technique and tribal patterns help the collector and dealer to make fairly confident identifications to attribute individual weavings to the specific tribes. However, confusion and doubt is never too far away. For example, a Tekke women could have married into the Yomut tribe and consequently was then obliged to weave Yomut designs only. She could at the same time, however, add Tekke features. At first glance a dealer would declare it to be a Yomut weaving whilst another dealer would declare it to be a Tekke weaving. The dealers agree to disagree and eventually a compromise is found and it is declared to be a Russian Turkoman.
Another general term commonly used by the carpet dealers in the East and the West and creates confusion is the 'Bokhara design'. The dealers often use this term when talking about a Russian Turkoman Tekke gul designed carpet from Turkmenistan. The 'Bokhara design' is also used to identify the simple yet charming Afghan Balouch version of these Turkoman carpets. The weaving workshops of Pakistan also produce a large number of inferior copies of the Turkoman Tekke gul design rugs. Also referred to by the dealers as the 'Bokhara design', these inferior rugs are usually produced using chemically treated wool that is dyed in hideous, non-traditional colors.
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