Turkmen Pile Engsi or Door Covering

The front door of a tent, in wool, and better made than most doors.

This pile engsi, or door covering, is Turkmen, from Turkmenistan, about 1880, in wool. Catalogue notes call it Ersari. Turkmen nomads hung an engsi across the entrance of the felt tent, where it kept out weather and announced the household's weaving skill. The deep red field divides in two panels, each filled with rows of small branching motifs and a central column of hooked medallions. A band of dark and ivory stars crosses the middle, and geometric borders crowd all sides. About six and a half feet long.

Knocking was presumably optional.