Taken from the dustjacket: "In this volume, 95 Turkmen carpets, selected fr their quality and beauty, are illustrated in magnificent color, most for the first time. The pieces were chosen from the impressive resources in the Textile Museum and from 35 other American collections. There are also 117 black and white illustrations, including scenes of daily Turken life and rug weaving. Over 55 stunning drawings of motifs in Turkmen carpets accompany the text and elucidate tribal characteristics. The reader is introduced to the carpets not only as works of art, with critical comments by connoisseurs, but also as functional weavings in nomadic Turkmen life. The carpets woven by 8 Turkmen tribes are discussed systemically. Each section contains extremely valuable doagnostic criteria for identifying the weavings of individual tribes and approximate dates of origin. Additional information appears in charts showing stylistic developments of the small medallions, called guls, repeated in Turkmen