Important Notice

TURKMENISTAN, CIRCA 1930
Handspun and handwoven cotton, hand embroidered with silk thread, natural dyes
Length 41.5 in (106 cm), End width 30.5 in (78 cm)


The Tekke are Turkoman, a people of mixed Turkic and Iranian descent. The women are prolific embroiders skilfully working their needles over children???s caps, camel trappings, purses and a variety of dress.

Probably the most splendid of these is the chyrpy, a coat draped over the head and shoulders like a cloak. The sleeves of the garment are usually vestigial, tapering flaps they are tied at the back and linked together half-way by a small strip of embroidered or woven cloth known as gerbi.

The chyrpy are usually made in dark colours, yellow and white. Young women wear them with a blue or black ground; older women with a yellow ground and those of high status with a white ground. The chyrpy is profusely embroidered with almost the entire ground colour covered in exquisite stitches. There are numerous floral designs, motifs of tulips of which Central Asia is well known. More common are ram's horns and geometric devices along the edges of the headdress and on the arms, with a fringe on the edge at the bottom and on the sleeves. The finest work is reserved for the lapels.

Jasleen Dhamija acquired this chyrpy, made for a young woman to wear on special occasions, in Tehran in the 1970s.

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