women have been weaving beautiful rugs for a very long time. It is thought that the Seljuks
of Central Asia brought hand-woven carpet techniques to Anatolia, the Turkish homeland,
in the 12th century. These beautiful, durable, portable floor and wall coverings were a
nomadic family's valuable and practical 'furniture', warming and brightening the clan's
various homes.
Traditionally, village women wove these items for their own family's use, or for their
dowry. The women took great care over their work, knowing it would be judged by their
skill in hand-dyeing and spinning wool yarns, combining colors, and creating the most
interesting and eye-pleasing patterns.
The patterns and color schemes of kilims were dictated by local traditions and by the
availability of fibers and dyes. Often it would take several months to collect all the
materials needed to achieve certain colors. Traditional patterns were created from
memory, and were handed down mother to daughter. Each artist demonstrated her
personality in the way she combined motifs and colors to illustrate the events and emotions
of her daily life.
The various names of kilims we use today usually come from the name of the village, town
or region in which the particular combination of pattern and colors originated. Most kilims
are primarily flat-weaves with patterns woven into the body of the rug, but some, such as
afshars or sumaks, incorporate "weft-faced" patterns, which are woven into the base of
the kilim as the rug is being created. Cicims are kilims with lively patterns embroidered on
top of the flat-woven base.
Kilims incorporate many symbols, which can be 'read' by those who are familiar with
them. Some traditional kilim motifs are similar to those found at the 7000 BC prehistoric
mound of Catal Huyuk, testifying to the very ancient traditions of flat-woven floor
coverings in Anatolia. These symbols, passed down over generations, are meant to bring
love, prosperity, fertility, beauty, and strength in the home of the weaver.
Women wove not only rugs to be used on floors, but camel and donkey bags to hold
household items during nomadic travels, baby cradles, sofras, or 'dining tables' on which
food would be eaten, decorative grain bags, and cushion covers which provided portable
seating.
The Central Asian countries of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan share the Turkic traditions of
rug weaving, and have their own distinctive use of patterns and colors.
Today, the Turkish government sponsors a number of projects to revive the art of
traditional weaving in Turkey. However, many rugs made today are not made according to
local customs, but to the tastes of the tourist and export markets. Therefore, the older,
traditionally woven pieces are becoming more valuable as they become increasingly more
difficult to find.
Copyright1999-2006 Bazaar Bayar/Gallery Golden State
All rights reserved.
