Title: Coat (Choga)

Date: mid-19th century or earlier

Geography: Made in Present-day Turkmenistan

Medium: Ground fabric: hand-spun red plain-weave wool (warp and weft); embroidery: silk; facing: ikat silk (warp), cotton (weft); lining: roller-printed Russian cotton

Dimensions: H. from shoulder to bottom hem: 50 3/4 in. (129 cm)
W. of arms: 72 1/2 in. (184 cm)
W. of body: 34 1/2 in. (87.6 cm)

Classification: Textiles

Credit Line: Purchase, Hajji Baba Club and The Page and Otto Marx Jr. Foundation Gifts, in memory of Newton Foster, 1998

Accession Number: 1998.244

Coat

Renowned for their vibrant knotted-pile carpets and storage bags, Turkmen weavers also produced magnificent examples of wearable art.[1] Living in the regions north of the border of Iran and Afghanistan, these diverse and distinctive tribal groups, referred to collectively as Turkmen, are known for their bold silver jewelry and richly colored textiles. With its simple lines and elegant construction, this stunning coat is among the finest and best-preserved examples of Turkmen embroidery.

Unlike the more familiar Turkmen silk chyrpy robes—traditionally worn shawl-like, draped over the head and shoulders, with trailing vestigial sleeves—this fully functional woman’s coat is one of only a small group of known embroideries of this type.[2] Upon its rather dense plain-weave wool foundation fabric, delicate chainstitch embroidery is executed in a sophisticated palette in silk thread. A silk and cotton ikat—a textile created through a multistep resist-dye process—lines the inner borders of the coat. This complex dye technique was particularly well developed in Central Asia. In contrast to the fine ikat edging, the main body of the coat is lined in a bright contemporary Russian floral-printed cotton. A small number of coats exhibiting similar form, materials, and embroidery technique have been published, but their attribution is uncertain. The present piece has been described as the work of the Chodor or Yomud Turkmen.[3] Yet, until more securely attributed examples come to light, the ultimate source of these textiles remains elusive.

The Museum’s collection contains a rich diversity of Turkmen materials, including jewelry, costume, carpets, storage bags, tent door coverings, tent bands, and animal trappings from regions where the many distinct Turkmen tribes made, and continue to make, their home.

Denise-Marie Teece in [Ekhtiar, Soucek, Canby, and Haidar 2011]

Footnotes:

1. For more on the art of the Turkmen, see Mackie and Thompson 1980 and Thompson 2008 Chapter 6: "The Turkmen." See also Diba 2011.

2. Carboni, Walker, and Moore 1999, p. 13, and Phipps 2010, p. 45 (entry with color plate). Similar pieces are published in Gillow 2010; Sychova, Natalya. The Museum of Oriental Art, Moscow. Leningrad, 1981, p. 126, no. 9, fig. 9 (color); and Beresneva, L. The Decorative and Applied Art of Turkmenia/Dekorativnoprikladnoe iskusstvo Turkmenii. Leningrad, 1976, p. 10, nos. 58–59, pls. 58–59 (color).

3. Carboni, Walker, and Moore 1999, p. 13 (entry with color plate).

[ James W. Blackmon, until 1998; sold to MMA]

Mackie, Louise W., and Jon Thompson. Turkmen, Tribal Carpets and Traditions. Washington: Textile Museum, 1980.

Carboni, Stefano, Daniel Walker, and J. Kenneth Moore. "Recent Acquisitions: A Selection, 1997–1998; Islam." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, n.s., vol. 57, no. 2 (1998-1999). p. 13, ill. (color).

Thompson, Jon. "Exotic Textiles from New York Collectors." In Timbuktu to Tibet. New York, 2008. Ch. 6: the Turkmen.

Gillow, John. Textiles of the Islamic World. London: Thames and Hudson, 2010.

Phipps, Elena. "Cochineal Red: The Art History of a Color." Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin (Winter 2010). p. 45, ill. fig. 76 (color).

Ekhtiar, Maryam, Priscilla P. Soucek, Sheila R. Canby, and Navina Haidar, ed. Masterpieces from the Department of Islamic Art in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1st ed. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011. no. 197, pp. 281–82, ill. (color).