The publication introduces for the first time the extraordinarily rich yet previously unknown British collection of Turkmen tribal carpets, rugs and trappings by Neville Kingston. The exceptional private collection forms the departure point for an exciting account of the development of the Turkmen weaving tradition, which lies at the heart of Eurasian textiles.

Thanks to Elena Tsareva’s extensive study of the art of Turkmen carpets in the light of archaeological and historical data, a complex picture of central Asian textiles has emerged. It shows how every epoch has contributed to the fundamentals of carpet-weaving and enriched it with new motifs, compositions and techniques.