Turkish Tugh,...Horsehair battle standard

[Amaris]

HI!

I know this is an odd place for this question.  But, I've tried almost everywhere else.

I'm trying to reproduce the technique used to create the sleeve on this Tugh.
 
http://www.tuerkenbeute.de/sam/sam_hoh/
I believe this is a modern "woodcut" artistic example.
 
http://www.tuerkenbeute.de/sam/sam_hoh/D30_de.php
But, this is what I'm aiming for,...
 
My question,
 
How the was the sleeve on the Tugh created?
 
It has been suggested that the sleeve was created through braiding.  However, I have yet to see any examples of braiding that actually has patterns.  I see braiding using single and multiple colors, but no incorporation of diamond, etc patterns.
 
Another suggestion has also been suggested, the use of a loom.
You weave the pattern "sideways", tube your material, then slide it onto the pole.
 
I have seen the use of a loom in turkey more often than the use of braiding.
 
(In the image of this Tugh,...you can Zoom,..check out the Red Line just under the bottom tuff of horse hair,...the Red Line in not continuous. 
Is this a seam?)--I've been told that this is caused by knotwork.  However, I believe this to be false.  I've see a alot of knot work and it has knots.  This Sleeve is smooth.
 
Perhaps with your experience, you can get me aimed in the right direction.
 
I really desire to recreate this Tugh.  The Tugh was a pole standard used by the Ottoman Armies to mark encampments, or used as a rally point in combat.  The Tugh itself begins with a turned wood four foot long section that is mounted upon a pole of varing height.
 
I would appreciated any suggestions.
 
Thank you for your time,
 
Ruth Cantu
San Antonio, Texas
 
RCANTU006@satx.rr.com
Daughteroftyr@yahoo.com

[squarerigger]

Hi Ruth,

I think that this is needle hitching or more likely grafting.  Needle hitching is performed by taking a core cord in a continuous series of hitches around preceding hitches in a spiral around the object and then using a colored cord at intervals to make half-hitches, using a needle, around that core cord for the pattern.  Grafting uses a core cord which is spiral wrapped around the object and that core cord is covered itself with turns over or under it, which second cords may be colored to introduce a pattern.  Either method would be a relatively easy way to reproduce this kind of pattern - all it takes is time and patience (and a well-thought-out pattern!).  Good luck with completing your project!

Lindsey

[Amaris]

http://www.horsehairart.com/hitching.htm

Lindsey!     Thanks!

This is the closest to this thing I have gotten!  Braiding, loom weaving, sprang, card weaving, etc.

I've e-mailed this site's owner.  Hopefully, they can recognize this as Needle Hitching.
The Ottomans started from Horse Tribes, so......

Whew.  (I've been searching for a clue for months. None of the Museums that I have contacted will return my requests for information on their Tughs, not evern Istanbul.)

Thanks!
Ruth

[drjbrennan]

Fascinating subject, I thought I'd read a bit about the Ottoman empire, but never came across this. Just how do you pronounce 'Tugh'?

[Amaris]

I actually don't know.   

The word in Turkish is tuğ which means "tail".  The English spelling used at Museums is Tugh.
So, I pronounce it like Tug in Tugboat.

However,...the Germans call this a Roßschweif (Rossschweif),...I think it means "horsehair".

This article describes the Tughs: http://www.turkishculture.org/pages.php?SearchID=175
Further down on this page you will see other examples of Tughs.

Notice the early version of Tughs in the top right corner of this Miniature, dated 1582:  http://www.imagesonline.bl.uk/britishlibrary/controller/textsearch?text=turkish&&idx=1&startid=761

Fun simple information on Turks: http://home.earthlink.net/~lilinah/Library/KnowYourTurks.html

The Ottoman attack of Vienna:  http://www-personal.umich.edu/~sarhaus/larimore02/guns.html

Ottoman history,...this is a good start:  http://www.naqshbandi.org/ottomans/history.htm

And you have to love Wikipedia:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatolian_Turkish_Beyliks

Thank you for your interest,
 
Ruth

[Knot Head]

I think the whole object was done with the actual horse hair itself. This would explain the seams in the pattern break ups. The actual braider would use that to splice the patterns together that way. At least that's how I would make the different patterns with horse hair only being a certain length to work with.