Turkmen carpet – national brand of our country, which gained worldwide recognition and became unique contribution of the Turkmen to the treasury of human civilization. And if legendary durability and fineness, ornamental and color harmony makes it priceless article of interior, then philosophic richness and artistic elegance turns the handmade canvases into work of high art. But carpets are also historical documents, which accumulate centuries-old information on ethnography and traditional culture of the Turkmen people. They can tell a lot about their creators to human being, who is able to read the ornamental picture. Turkmen carpets not only charm with their original ornament, they tell about concrete historical events in the life of people. Among such carpets, it is worth mentioning the carpet canvas “Horse run” devoted to the legendary crossing “Ashgabat-Moscow” performed in 1935 by the Turkmen riders on racers of Akhalteke and Yomud breeds.
This comparatively small by size (331 х 202 cm), but unique by its artistic and historical value canvas was woven in 1937 at the Ashgabat Carpet Factory and is preserved today in All-Russian Museum of Decorative-applied and National Art in Moscow. The fate of this carpet, its plot and events connected with it have no historical analogs. The most complicated route of 4300-kilometer long horse run, which includes 350-kilometer long sprint through desert, became in prewar time the trial of endurance and reliability of the Turkmen racers, because the cavalry was important fighting power that time.
Thirty Turkmen riders on the horse overpassed the distance within 84 days, having left behind Garagum, Ust-Yurt, and Pavolzhsk steppes. As the newspapers of those years wrote “obstinate nature, seemed strained all its ill ingenuity, putting newer hard obstacles on their way”. It deserted them without water for a long time, they were walking under heavy shower and scorching sun, their horses stuck in sands up to knees. Nature tried the tolerance of people and endurance of horses”. In the governmental documents and press messages of those years, the horse transition of thirty Turkmen equestrians from Ashgabat to Moscow was called “unprecedented in a world history” a heroic feat. In the end of their way an enthusiastic welcome awaited them. On memoirs of eyewitnesses “many thousands and many-voiced Moscow, having stretched along streets, waited dear guests with flowers in their hands at the gates, on sidewalks, at the windows and even on roofs; Moscow was throwing flowers to hoofs of the Turkmen horse that has covered itself with glory of unprecedented transition”.
The carpet devoted to this legendary event shocks and fascinates with its beauty and historical authenticity, with combination of thousand-year old traditions and innovations of Turkmen carpet weaving art. There is an absolutely new for the Turkmen carpet weaving - the subject image of the central field is delicately connected to traditional motives in kayma framing. On the carpet masterpiece narrating about historical run, real characters are well recognized, their equipment and servicing, landscape through which the route of horse transition was laid is depicted authentically, almost documentary. Very high density of knotting (4800 - 5000 knots per 1 square decimeter), extremely short height of pile (2 – 2.5 mm) and more than 50 colours and hues helped the skilled workers to transfer the face expressions of horsemen, beauty of the nature, to give liveliness and certain individuality to images of horses. At that, the participants of the run are depicted in motion, which is absolutely uneasy in pile carpet weaving technology. But Turkmen carpet weavers were able to reach both portrait similarity of horsemen, and to transfer various colours and even exterior features of their horses.
In several years after creation of handmade canvas “Horse run” was performed in New-York international exhibition, and only after decades the employees of All-Russian decorative and applied and national arts museum introduced public at large this unique Turkmen carpet. Last year during one month it was a single exhibit of an unusual exhibition in Moscow, for which a separate hall was allocated, where chronicle video and photography of remote thirties of the last century were demonstrated on screens. Appearance of a real Akhalteke racer in the yard of old Moscow farmstead of XVIII century helped to sense the breath of events of remote years, where actually this museum is located. A bay horse descended from carpet cloth, stroke all gathered with its grandeur of natural perfection, having become a live symbol of unsurpassed talent of the nation that has cautiously preserved and develops this unique pure breed of “heavenly horses”.
Akhalteke racers even today adorn the carpet productions of the Turkmen masters. In our days, on the carpet pictures, it is also possible to see native landscape, image of the time we live in. under amicable knock of daraks on threads of invariable foundation of traditions, our talented carpet-weavers tie up the knots, narrating about new historical epoch.
This comparatively small by size (331 х 202 cm), but unique by its artistic and historical value canvas was woven in 1937 at the Ashgabat Carpet Factory and is preserved today in All-Russian Museum of Decorative-applied and National Art in Moscow. The fate of this carpet, its plot and events connected with it have no historical analogs. The most complicated route of 4300-kilometer long horse run, which includes 350-kilometer long sprint through desert, became in prewar time the trial of endurance and reliability of the Turkmen racers, because the cavalry was important fighting power that time.
Thirty Turkmen riders on the horse overpassed the distance within 84 days, having left behind Garagum, Ust-Yurt, and Pavolzhsk steppes. As the newspapers of those years wrote “obstinate nature, seemed strained all its ill ingenuity, putting newer hard obstacles on their way”. It deserted them without water for a long time, they were walking under heavy shower and scorching sun, their horses stuck in sands up to knees. Nature tried the tolerance of people and endurance of horses”. In the governmental documents and press messages of those years, the horse transition of thirty Turkmen equestrians from Ashgabat to Moscow was called “unprecedented in a world history” a heroic feat. In the end of their way an enthusiastic welcome awaited them. On memoirs of eyewitnesses “many thousands and many-voiced Moscow, having stretched along streets, waited dear guests with flowers in their hands at the gates, on sidewalks, at the windows and even on roofs; Moscow was throwing flowers to hoofs of the Turkmen horse that has covered itself with glory of unprecedented transition”.
The carpet devoted to this legendary event shocks and fascinates with its beauty and historical authenticity, with combination of thousand-year old traditions and innovations of Turkmen carpet weaving art. There is an absolutely new for the Turkmen carpet weaving - the subject image of the central field is delicately connected to traditional motives in kayma framing. On the carpet masterpiece narrating about historical run, real characters are well recognized, their equipment and servicing, landscape through which the route of horse transition was laid is depicted authentically, almost documentary. Very high density of knotting (4800 - 5000 knots per 1 square decimeter), extremely short height of pile (2 – 2.5 mm) and more than 50 colours and hues helped the skilled workers to transfer the face expressions of horsemen, beauty of the nature, to give liveliness and certain individuality to images of horses. At that, the participants of the run are depicted in motion, which is absolutely uneasy in pile carpet weaving technology. But Turkmen carpet weavers were able to reach both portrait similarity of horsemen, and to transfer various colours and even exterior features of their horses.
In several years after creation of handmade canvas “Horse run” was performed in New-York international exhibition, and only after decades the employees of All-Russian decorative and applied and national arts museum introduced public at large this unique Turkmen carpet. Last year during one month it was a single exhibit of an unusual exhibition in Moscow, for which a separate hall was allocated, where chronicle video and photography of remote thirties of the last century were demonstrated on screens. Appearance of a real Akhalteke racer in the yard of old Moscow farmstead of XVIII century helped to sense the breath of events of remote years, where actually this museum is located. A bay horse descended from carpet cloth, stroke all gathered with its grandeur of natural perfection, having become a live symbol of unsurpassed talent of the nation that has cautiously preserved and develops this unique pure breed of “heavenly horses”.
Akhalteke racers even today adorn the carpet productions of the Turkmen masters. In our days, on the carpet pictures, it is also possible to see native landscape, image of the time we live in. under amicable knock of daraks on threads of invariable foundation of traditions, our talented carpet-weavers tie up the knots, narrating about new historical epoch.
