Turkoman Cheikel bag, Central Asia

Old Turkoman Teke <em>Cheikel</em>. Cheikel are leather bags with partly gilded silver plate studded with carnelian on the front. It is attached to a leather strap with silver discs and gilded silver decorations, and and are worn across the chest or shoulder.  This is why the strap is not symmetrical  and one side of the strap is more ornate than the other. In the recent past the <em>cheikel</em> was worn by older women.

They are used to keep Muslim prayers, talismans, keys, coins and small valuables in.

From the 19th century.

In good condition, three of the silver discs of the strap are missing.

Materials: gilded silver, carnelian, leather.

Provenance: German private collection.

Dimensions:

Size of the cheikel: 10 x 12 cm
Leather strap approx. 100 cm long

Literature:

“Old silver jewellery of the Turkoman”, Schletzer, Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 1984, p. 112
“Schmuck aus Zentralasien”, Prokot, Inge and Joachim Callwey, Verlag München, 1981, p.115-119
“Der Turkmenenschmuck”, Rudolph, Hermann, Museum für Völkerkunde, 1984, p.194-195
“The arts and crafts of Turkestan”, Kalter, Johannes, Thames and Hudson, 1983, p. 132
“Traditional jewellery from Soviet Central Asia and Kazakhstan”, Sovetsky khudozhnik Publishers, 1984, p. 121

CA197