A lovely Uzbek silk and cotton ikat panel with a totemic tree-like design from the Samarkand / Bokhara region of what was once called ‘Greater Turkestan’ in central Asia. The construction is of three vertical panels stitched together and backed by a plain-striped cotton cloth (added later) while the edges have been secured by overlapping with a very thin strip of maroon cotton cloth. Made sometime in the second half of the 1800’s / 19th century, the size is 184cm x 96cm, it has silk warps and cotton wefts (a construction technique known as ‘adras ikat’) and the colours are all from natural dyes. It has been left ‘as collected’ (in northern Afghanistan in the early 1970’s), so could benefit from a professional cleaning. Otherwise in good condition with no repairs / holes.