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Anatolian rug or Turkish carpet ( Turkish: ''Türk Halısı'') is a term of convenience, commonly used today to denote rugs and carpets woven in
Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
and its adjacent regions. Geographically, its area of production can be compared to the territories which were historically dominated by the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
. It denotes a knotted, pile-woven floor or wall covering which is produced for home use, local sale, and export, and religious purpose. Together with the flat-woven
kilim A kilim ( ; ; ) is a flat tapestry-weaving, woven carpet or rug traditionally produced in countries of the former Persian Empire, including Iran and Turkey, but also in the Balkans and the Turkic countries. Kilims can be purely decorative ...
, Anatolian rugs represent an essential part of the regional culture, which is officially understood as the
Culture of Turkey The culture of Turkey () or the Turkish culture () includes both the national culture and local cultures. Currently, Turkey has various local cultures. Things such as music, Turkish folk dance, folk dance, or Kebab, kebap variety may be used to ...
today, and derives from the ethnic, religious and cultural pluralism of one of the most ancient centres of human civilisation. Rug weaving represents a traditional craft dating back to prehistoric times. Rugs were woven much earlier than even the oldest surviving rugs like the Pazyryk rug would suggest. During its long history, the art and craft of the woven carpet has absorbed and integrated different cultural traditions. Traces of Byzantine design can be observed in Anatolian rugs;
Turkic peoples Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West Asia, West, Central Asia, Central, East Asia, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose members ...
migrating from Central Asia, as well as Armenian people, Caucasian and Kurdic tribes either living in, or migrating to Anatolia at different times in history contributed their traditional motifs and ornaments. The arrival of Islam and the development of the
Islamic art Islamic art is a part of Islamic culture and encompasses the visual arts produced since the 7th century CE by people who lived within territories inhabited or ruled by Muslims, Muslim populations. Referring to characteristic traditions across ...
has profoundly influenced the Anatolian rug design. Its ornaments and patterns thus reflect the political history and social diversity of the area. Since rug export was so popular within Iran, the cultural motives and display on the Anatolian rugs vary. Within the group of oriental carpets, the Anatolian rug is distinguished by particular characteristics of its dyes and colours, motifs, textures and techniques. Examples range in size from small pillows (''yastik'') to large, room-sized carpets. The earliest surviving examples of Anatolian rugs known today date from the thirteenth century. Distinct types of rugs have been woven ever since in court manufactures and provincial workshops, village homes, tribal settlements, or in the nomad's tent. Rugs were simultaneously produced at all different levels of society, mainly using sheep wool, cotton and
natural dye Natural dyes are dyes or colorants derived from plants, invertebrates, or minerals. The majority of natural dyes are vegetable dyes from plant sources—roots, berry, berries, Bark (botany), bark, leaf, leaves, and wood—and other biological sourc ...
s. Anatolian rugs are most often tied with symmetrical knots, which were so widely used in the area that Western rug dealers in the early 20th century adopted the term "Turkish" or "Ghiordes" knot for the technique. From the 1870s onwards, the Ottoman court manufactures also produced silk-piled rugs, sometimes with inwoven threads of gold or silver, but the traditional material of the majority of Anatolian rugs was hand-spun, naturally dyed wool. In Europe, Anatolian rugs were frequently depicted in Renaissance paintings, often in a context of dignity, prestige and luxury. Political contacts and trade intensified between Western Europe and the Islamic world after the 13th century AD. When direct trade was established with the Ottoman Empire during the 14th century, all kinds of carpets were at first indiscriminately given the trade name of "Turkish" carpets, regardless of their actual place of manufacture. Since the late nineteenth century, oriental rugs have been subject to art historic and scientific interest in the Western world. The richness and cultural diversity of rug weaving were gradually better understood. More recently, also flat woven carpets (
Kilim A kilim ( ; ; ) is a flat tapestry-weaving, woven carpet or rug traditionally produced in countries of the former Persian Empire, including Iran and Turkey, but also in the Balkans and the Turkic countries. Kilims can be purely decorative ...
, Soumak, Cicim, Zili) have attracted the interest of collectors and scientists. The art and craft of the Anatolian rug underwent serious changes by the introduction of synthetic dyes from the last third of the 19th century onwards. The mass production of cheap rugs designed for commercial success had brought the ancient tradition close to extinction. In the late twentieth century, projects like the DOBAG Carpet Initiative have successfully revived the tradition of Anatolian rug weaving using hand-spun, naturally dyed wool and traditional designs


History

The origin of carpet weaving remains unknown, as carpets are subject to use, wear, and destruction by insects and rodents. Controversy arose over the accuracy of the claim that the oldest records of flat woven
kilim A kilim ( ; ; ) is a flat tapestry-weaving, woven carpet or rug traditionally produced in countries of the former Persian Empire, including Iran and Turkey, but also in the Balkans and the Turkic countries. Kilims can be purely decorative ...
s come from the Çatalhöyük excavations, dated to circa 7000 BC. The excavators' reportEvidence for ancient kilim patterns found in Çatalhöyük
Turkishculture.org. Retrieved on 2012-01-27.
remained unconfirmed, as it states that the wall paintings depicting kilim motifs had disintegrated shortly after their exposure. The history of rug weaving in Anatolia must be understood in the context of the country's political and social history. Anatolia was home to ancient civilizations, such as the
Hittites The Hittites () were an Anatolian peoples, Anatolian Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-European people who formed one of the first major civilizations of the Bronze Age in West Asia. Possibly originating from beyond the Black Sea, they settled in mo ...
, the
Phrygians The Phrygians (Greek: Φρύγες, ''Phruges'' or ''Phryges'') were an ancient Indo-European speaking people who inhabited central-western Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) in antiquity. Ancient Greek authors used "Phrygian" as an umbrella term t ...
, the
Assyrians Assyrians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to Mesopotamia, a geographical region in West Asia. Modern Assyrians share descent directly from the ancient Assyrians, one of the key civilizations of Mesopotamia. While they are distinct from ot ...
, the
Ancient Persia The history of Iran (also known as Persia) is intertwined with Greater Iran, which is a socio-cultural region encompassing all of the areas that have witnessed significant settlement or influence exerted by the Iranian peoples and the Iranian ...
ns, the
Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...
, the
Ancient Greeks Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically re ...
, and the
Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...
. Rug weaving is assumed to already exist in Anatolia during this time, however there are no examples of pre-Turkic migration rugs in Anatolia. In 1071 AD, the Seljuq Alp Arslan defeated the Roman Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes at Manzikert. This is regarded as the beginning of the ascendancy of the
Seljuq Turks The Seljuk dynasty, or Seljukids ( ; , ''Saljuqian'',) alternatively spelled as Saljuqids or Seljuk Turks, was an Oghuz Turkic, Sunni Muslim dynasty that gradually became Persianate and contributed to Turco-Persian culture. The founder of t ...
.


Seljuq rugs: Travelers' reports and the Konya fragments

In the early fourteenth century,
Marco Polo Marco Polo (; ; ; 8 January 1324) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known a ...
wrote in the account of his travels:
''...''In Turcomania there are three classes of people. First, there are the Turcomans; these are worshippers of Mahommet, a rude people with an uncouth language of their own. They dwell among mountains and downs where they find good pasture, for their occupation is cattle-keeping. Excellent horses, known as ''Turquans'', are reared in their country, and also very valuable mules. The other two classes are the Armenians and the Greeks, who live mixt with the former in the towns and villages, occupying themselves with trade and handicrafts. They weave the finest and handsomest carpets in the world, and also a great quantity of fine and rich silks of cramoisy and other colours, and plenty of other stuffs.
Coming from Persia, Polo travelled from Sivas to Kayseri.
Abu'l-Fida Ismāʿīl bin ʿAlī bin Maḥmūd bin Muḥammad bin ʿUmar bin Shāhanshāh bin Ayyūb bin Shādī bin Marwān (), better known as Abū al-Fidāʾ or Abulfeda (; November 127327 October 1331), was a Mamluk Sultanate, Mamluk-era Kurds, Kurdish ...
, citing Ibn Sa'id al-Maghribi refers to rug export from Anatolian cities in the late 13th century: "That's where Turkoman carpets are made, which are exported to all other countries". He and the Moroccan merchant
Ibn Battuta Ibn Battuta (; 24 February 13041368/1369), was a Maghrebi traveller, explorer and scholar. Over a period of 30 years from 1325 to 1354, he visited much of Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Iberian Peninsula. Near the end of his life, Ibn ...
mention Aksaray as a major rug weaving center in the early-to-mid-14th century. The earliest surviving woven rugs were found in
Konya Konya is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium. In 19th-century accounts of the city in En ...
, Beyşehir and Fostat, and were dated to the 13th century. These carpets from the Anatolian Seljuq Period (1243–1302) are regarded as the first group of Anatolian rugs. Eight fragments were found in 1905 by F.R. Martin in the Alaeddin Mosque in Konya, four in the Eşrefoğlu Mosque in Beyşehir in Konya province by R.M. Riefstahl in 1925. More fragments were found in Fostat, today a suburb of the city of Cairo. Judging by their original size (Riefstahl reports a carpet up to 6 m long), the Konya carpets must have been produced in town manufactories, as looms of this size can hardly have been set up in a nomadic or village home. Where exactly these carpets were woven is unknown. The field patterns of the Konya rugs are mostly geometric, and small in relation to the carpet size. Similar patterns are arranged in diagonal rows: Hexagons with plain, or hooked outlines; squares filled with stars, with interposed
kufic The Kufic script () is a style of Arabic script, that gained prominence early on as a preferred script for Quran transcription and architectural decoration, and it has since become a reference and an archetype for a number of other Arabic scripts ...
-like ornaments; hexagons in diamonds composed of rhomboids filled with stylized flowers and leaves. Their main borders often contain kufic ornaments. The corners are not "resolved", which means that the border design is cut off, and does not continue diagonally around the corners. The colours (blue, red, green, to a lesser extent also white, brown, yellow) are subdued, frequently two shades of the same colour are opposed to each other. Nearly all carpet fragments show different patterns and ornaments. The Beyşehir rugs are closely related to the Konya specimen in design and colour. In contrast to the " animal carpets" of the following period, depictions of animals are rarely seen in the Seljuq fragments. Rows of horned quadrupeds placed opposite to each other, or birds beside a tree can be recognized on some fragments. The style of the Seljuq rugs has parallels amongst the architectural decoration of contemporaneous mosques such as those at Divriği,
Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...
, and
Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. It is the site of an ...
, and may be related to Byzantine art. Today, the rugs are kept at the Mevlana Museum in Konya, and at the Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum in Istanbul. File:Konya Ethnographical Museum - Carpet 1.png, Rug fragment from Eşrefoğlu Mosque, Beysehir, Turkey. Seljuq Period, 13th century. File:Seljuk Carpet Fragment 13th Century..png, Seljuq carpet, 320 x 240 cm, from Alaeddin Mosque, Konya, 13th century File:Unknown, Turkey, 11th-13th Century - Carpet with Animal Design - Google Art Project.jpg, Animal carpet, dated to the 11th–13th century,
Museum of Islamic Art, Doha The Museum of Islamic Art (MIA; ) is a museum on one end of the Corniche in Doha, Qatar. As per the architect I. M. Pei's specifications, the museum is built on an island off an artificial projecting peninsula near the traditional '' dhow'' ha ...


Rugs of the Anatolian Beyliks

Early in the thirteenth century, the territory of Anatolia was invaded by
Mongols Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...
. The weakening of Seljuq rule allowed Turkmen tribes known as the
Oghuz Turks The Oghuz Turks ( Middle Turkic: , ) were a western Turkic people who spoke the Oghuz branch of the Turkic language family. In the 8th century, they formed a tribal confederation conventionally named the Oghuz Yabgu State in Central Asia ...
to organize themselves into independent sovereignties, the Beyliks. These were later integrated into the Ottoman Empire by the sultans
Bayezid I Bayezid I (; ), also known as Bayezid the Thunderbolt (; ; – 8 March 1403), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1389 to 1402. He adopted the title of ''Sultan-i Rûm'', ''Rûm'' being the Arabic name for the Eastern Roman Empire. In 139 ...
(1389–1402),
Murad II Murad II (, ; June 1404 – 3 February 1451) was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1421 to 1444 and from 1446 to 1451. Early life Murad was born in June 1404 to Mehmed I, while the identity of his mother is disputed according to v ...
(1421–1481),
Mehmed the Conqueror Mehmed II (; , ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror (; ), was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from August 1444 to September 1446 and then later from February 1451 to May 1481. In Mehmed II's first reign, ...
(1451–1481), and
Selim I Selim I (; ; 10 October 1470 – 22 September 1520), known as Selim the Grim or Selim the Resolute (), was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. Despite lasting only eight years, his reign is ...
(1512–1520). Literary sources like the Book of Dede Korkut confirm that the Turkoman tribes produced carpets in Anatolia. What types of carpets were woven by the Turkoman Beyliks remains unknown, since we are unable to identify them. One of the Turkoman tribes of the Beylik group, the Tekke settled in South-western Anatolia in the eleventh century, and moved back to the Caspian sea later. The Tekke tribes of Turkmenistan, living around Merv and the Amu Darya during the 19th century and earlier, wove a distinct type of carpet characterized by stylized floral motifs called guls in repeating rows.


Ottoman carpets

Around 1300 AD, a group of Turkmen tribes under Suleiman and Ertugrul moved westward. Under
Osman I Osman I or Osman Ghazi (; or ''Osman Gazi''; died 1323/4) was the eponymous founder of the Ottoman Empire (first known as a bey, beylik or emirate). While initially a small Turkoman (ethnonym), Turkoman principality during Osman's lifetime, h ...
, they founded the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
in northwestern
Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
; in 1326, the Ottomans conquered Bursa, which became the first capital of the Ottoman state. By the late 15th century, the Ottoman state had become a major power. In 1517, the Egyptian Sultanate of the Mamluks was overthrown in the Ottoman–Mamluk war.
Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I (; , ; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the Western world and as Suleiman the Lawgiver () in his own realm, was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman sultan between 1520 a ...
, the tenth
Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...
(1520–1566), invaded Persia and forced the Persian Shah Tahmasp (1524–1576) to move his capital from
Tabriz Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...
to
Qazvin Qazvin (; ; ) is a city in the Central District (Qazvin County), Central District of Qazvin County, Qazvin province, Qazvin province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is the largest city in the provi ...
, until the
Peace of Amasya The Peace of Amasya (; ) was a treaty agreed to on May 29, 1555, between Shah Tahmasp I of Safavid Iran and Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire at the city of Amasya, following the Ottoman–Safavid War (1532–1555), Ottoman ...
was agreed upon in 1555. As the political and economical influence grew of the Ottoman Empire,
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
became a meeting point of diplomats, merchants and artists. During Suleiman I.'s reign, artists and artisans of different specialities worked together in court manufactures (''Ehl-i Hiref'').
Calligraphy Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...
and miniature painting were performed in the calligraphy workshops, or ', and influenced carpet weaving. Besides Istanbul, Bursa, Iznik, Kütahya and Ushak were homes to manufactories of different specializations.
Bursa Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...
became known for its silk cloths and brocades, Iznik and
Kütahya Kütahya (; historically, Cotyaeum or Kotyaion; Ancient Greek, Greek: Κοτύαιον) is a city in western Turkey which lies on the Porsuk River, at 969 metres above sea level. It is the seat of Kütahya Province and Kütahya District. In 19 ...
were famous for ceramics and
tile Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, Rock (geology), stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, wal ...
s, Uşak, Gördes, and Ladik for their carpets. The Ushak region, one of the centers of Ottoman "court" production, Holbein and Lotto carpets were woven here. Gold-brocaded silk velvet carpets known as ''Çatma'' are associated with the old Ottoman capital of Bursa, in Western Anatolia near the Sea of Marmara.


15th century "animal" rugs

Very few carpets still exist today which represent the transition between the late Seljuq and early Ottoman period. A traditional Chinese motif, the fight between phoenix and dragon, is seen in an Anatolian rug today at the
Pergamon Museum The Pergamon Museum (; ) is a Kulturdenkmal , listed building on the Museum Island in the Mitte (locality), historic centre of Berlin, Germany. It was built from 1910 to 1930 by order of Emperor Wilhelm II, German Emperor, Wilhelm II and accordi ...
, Berlin. Radiocarbon dating confirmed that the "Dragon and Phoenix" carpet was woven in the mid 15th century, during the early Ottoman Empire. It is knotted with symmetric knots. The Chinese motif was probably introduced into Islamic art by the Mongols during the thirteenth century. Another carpet showing two medallions with two birds besides a tree was found in the Swedish church of Marby. More fragments were found in Fostat, today a suburb of the city of Cairo. A carpet with serial bird-and-tree medallions is shown in
Sano di Pietro Sano may refer to: Geography * Sano, Kentucky, U.S. * Sano, Tochigi, Japan * Monte Sano Mountain, a mountain in Alabama, United States ** Monte Sano State Park * Wai Sano, a volcano in Flores, Indonesia Fiction * Sano (''Rurouni Kenshin''), a ch ...
's painting "Marriage of the Virgin" (1448–52). The "Dragon and Phoenix" and the "Marby" rugs were the only existing examples of Anatolian animal carpets known until 1988. Since then, seven more carpets of this type have been found. They survived in Tibetan monasteries and were removed by monks fleeing to Nepal during the
Chinese cultural revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...
. One of these carpets was acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art which parallels a painting by the Sienese artist Gregorio di Cecco: "The Marriage of the Virgin", 1423. It shows large confronted animals, each with a smaller animal inside. More animal carpets were depicted in Italian paintings of the 14th and 15th century, and thus represent the earliest Oriental carpets shown in Renaissance paintings. Although only few examples for early Anatolian carpets have survived, European paintings inform the knowledge about late Seljuk and early Ottoman carpets. By the end of the 15th century, geometrical ornaments became more frequent.


Holbein and Lotto carpets

Based on the distribution and size of their geometric medallions, a distinction is made between "large" and "small" Holbein carpets. The small Holbein type is characterized by small octagons, frequently including a star, which are distributed over the field in a regular pattern, surrounded by arabesques. The large Holbein type show two or three large medallions, often including eight-pointed stars. Their field is often covered in minute floral ornaments. These "Ushak" carpets can be found in places such as the MAK in Vienna, the
Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...
in Paris, and the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
. Lotto carpets show a yellow grid of geometric arabesques, with interchanging cruciform, octagonal, or diamond shaped elements. The oldest examples have "kufic" borders. The field is always red, and is covered with bright yellow leaves on an underlying rapport of octagonal or rhombiform elements. Carpets of various sizes up to 6 meters square are known. Ellis distinguishes three principal design groups for Lotto carpets: the Anatolian-style, kilim-style, and ornamental style. Holbein and Lotto carpets have little in common with decorations and ornaments seen on Ottoman art objects other than carpets. Briggs demonstrated similarities between both types of carpets, and Timurid carpets depicted in miniature paintings. The Holbein and Lotto carpets may represent a design tradition dating back to the Timurid period. File:Small_pattern_Holbein_carpet_Anatolia_16th_century.jpg, Type I small-pattern Holbein carpet,
Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
, 16th century. File:Inside the Harem, Topkapi Palace, Istanbul, Turkey (Nov 2009).jpg, The Harem Room, Topkapi Palace, carpet with a small-pattern "Holbein" design File:Holbein carpet with large medallions 16th century Central Anatolia.jpg, Type IV large-pattern Holbein carpet, 16th century, Central
Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
. Image:Western Anatolian knotted woll carpet with 'Lotto' patern, 16th century, Saint Louis Art Museum.jpg, Western Anatolian ‘Lotto’-rug, 16th century, Saint Louis Art Museum


Ushak carpets

Star Ushak carpets were woven in large formats. They are characterized by large dark blue star shaped primary medallions in infinite repeat on a red ground field containing a secondary floral scroll. The design was likely influenced by northwest Persian book design, or by Persian carpet medallions. As compared to the medallion Ushak carpets, the concept of the infinite repeat in star Ushak carpets is more accentuated and in keeping with the early Turkish design tradition. Because of their strong allusion to the infinite repeat, the star Ushak design can be used on carpets of various size and in many varying dimensions. Medallion Ushak carpets usually have a red or blue field decorated with a floral trellis or leaf tendrils, ovoid primary medallions alternating with smaller eight-lobed stars, or lobed medallions, intertwined with floral tracery. Their border frequently contains palmettes on a floral and leaf scroll, and pseudo-kufic characters. Medallion Ushak carpets with their curvilinear patterns significantly depart from the designs of earlier Turkish carpets. Their emergence in the sixteenth century hints at a potential impact of Persian designs. Since the Ottoman Turks occupied the former Persian capital of
Tabriz Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...
in the first half of the sixteenth century, they would have knowledge of, and access to Persian medallion carpets. Several examples are known to have been in Turkey at an early date, such as the carpet that Erdmann found in the Topkapı Palace. The Ushak carpet medallion, however, conceived as part of an endless repeat, represents a specific Turkish idea, and is different from the Persian understanding of a self-contained central medallion. Star and medallion Ushaks represent an important innovation, as in them, floral ornaments appear in Turkish carpets for the first time. The replacement of floral and foliate ornaments by geometrical designs, and the substitution of the infinite repeat by large, centered compositions of ornaments, was termed by Kurt Erdmann the "pattern revolution". Another small group of Ushak carpets is called Double-niche Ushaks. In their design, the corner medallions have been moved closely together, so that they form a niche on both ends of the carpet. This has been understood as a prayer rug design, because a pendant resembling a mosque lamp is suspended from one of the niches. The resulting design scheme resembles the classical Persian medallion design. Counterintuitive to the prayer rug design, some of the double niche Ushaks have central medallions as well. Double niche Ushaks thus may provide an example for the integration of Persian patterns into an older Anatolian design tradition.


White ground (Selendi) rugs

Examples are also known of rugs woven in the Ushak area whose fields are covered by ornaments like the Cintamani motif, made of three coloured orbs arranged in triangles, often with two wavy bands positioned under each triangle. This motiv usually appears on a white ground. Together with the bird and a very small group of so-called scorpion rugs, they form a group of known as "white ground rugs". Bird rugs have an allover geometrical field design of repeating quatrefoils enclosing a rosette. Although geometric in design, the pattern has similarities to birds. The rugs of the white ground group have been attributed to the nearby town of Selendi, based on an Ottoman official price list ''(narh defter)'' of 1640 which mentions a "white carpet with leopard design".


Ottoman Cairene rugs

After the 1517 Ottoman conquest of the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt, two different cultures merged. The earlier tradition of the Mamluk carpet used "S" (clockwise) spun and "Z" (anti-clockwise)-plied wool, and a limited palette of colours and shades. After the conquest, the Cairene weavers adopted an Ottoman Turkish design. The production of these carpets continued in Egypt, and probably also in Anatolia, into the early 17th century.


"Transylvanian" rugs

Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...
, in present-day
Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
was part of the Ottoman Empire from 1526 to 1699. It was an important center for the carpet trade with Europe. Carpets were also valued in Transylvania, and Turkish carpets were used as decorative wall furnishings in Christian Protestant churches. Amongst others, the
Brașov Brașov (, , ; , also ''Brasau''; ; ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Kruhnen'') is a city in Transylvania, Romania and the county seat (i.e. administrative centre) of Brașov County. According to the 2021 Romanian census, ...
Black Church The Black church (sometimes termed Black Christianity or African American Christianity) is the faith and body of Christian denominations and congregations in the United States that predominantly minister to, and are led by, African Americans, ...
still shelters a variety of Anatolian carpets, called by convenience "Transylvanian carpets". By their preservation in Christian churches, unusual as the setting may be, the carpets were protected from wear and the changes of history, and often remained in excellent condition. Amongst these carpets are well-preserved Holbein, Lotto, and Bird Ushak carpets. The carpets termed "Transsylvanian carpets" by convenience today are of Ottoman origin, and were woven in Anatolia. Usually their format is small, with borders of oblong, angular cartouches whose centers are filled with stylized, counterchanging vegetal motifs, sometimes interspersed with shorter stellated rosettes or cartouches. Their field often has a prayer niche design, with two pairs of vases with flowering branches symmetrically arranged towards the horizontal axis. In other examples, the field decor is condensed into medallions of concentric lozenges and rows of flowers. The spandrels of the prayer niche contain stiff arabesques or geometrical rosettes and leaves. The ground colour is yellow, red, or dark blue. The Transylvanian church records, as well as Netherlandish paintings from the seventeenth century which depict in detail carpets with this design, allow for precise dating. By the time "Transylvanian" carpets appear in Western paintings for the first time, royal and aristocratic subjects had mostly progressed to sit for portraits which depict Persian carpets. Less wealthy sitters are still shown with the Turkish types: The 1620 '' Portrait of Abraham Grapheus'' by Cornelis de Vos, and Thomas de Keyser's "Portrait of an unknown man" (1626) and "Portrait of Constantijn Huyghens and his clerk" (1627) are amongst the earliest paintings depicting the "Transylvanian" types of Ottoman Turkish manufactory carpets. Transylvanian vigesimal accounts, customs bills, and other archived documents provide evidence that these carpets were exported to Europe in large quantities. Probably the increase in production reflects the increasing demand by an upper middle class who now could afford to buy these carpets. Pieter de Hoochs 1663 painting "Portrait of a family making music" depicts an Ottoman prayer rug of the "Transylvanian" type. Anatolian carpets of the "Transylvanian" type were also kept in other European churches in Hungary, Poland, Italy and Germany, whence they were sold, and reached European and American museums and private collections. Aside from the Transylvanian churches, the Brukenthal National Museum in Sibiu, Romania, the
Museum of Fine Arts (Budapest) The Museum of Fine Arts (, ) is a museum in Heroes' Square (Budapest), Heroes' Square, Budapest, Hungary, facing the Kunsthalle Budapest, Palace of Art. It was built by the plans of Albert Schickedanz and Fülöp Herzog in an Eclecticism in ar ...
, the
Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
, and the Skokloster Castle near Stockholm in Sweden keep important collections of "Transylvanian" carpets. Carpets are rarely found in Anatolia itself from the transitional period between the classical Ottoman era and the nineteenth century. The reason for this remains unclear. Carpets which can be reliably dated to the eighteenth century are of a small format. At the same time, western European residences were more sparely equipped with Oriental carpets. It seems likely that carpets were not exported in large scale during this time.


19th century: "''Mecidi''" style, and the Hereke court manufacture

By the end of the eighteenth century, the "turkish baroque" or "''mecidi''" style developed out of French baroque designs. Carpets were woven after the patterns of French Savonnerie and Aubusson tapestry. Sultan Abdülmecid I (1839–1861) built the Dolmabahçe Palace, modelled after the
Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
. A weaving workshop was established in 1843 in Hereke that supplied the royal palaces with silk brocades and other textiles. The Hereke Imperial Factory included looms that produced cotton fabric, in 1850 the cotton looms were moved to a factory in Bakirkoy, west of Istanbul, being replaced by Jacquard looms. Within its early years of production, it had only produced textiles exclusively for the Ottoman palaces, and in 1878, a fire had caused extensive damage and had closed production until 1882. Carpet production had begun in Hereke in 1891 and became a center for expert carpet weavers. Hereke carpets are known primarily for their fine weave. Silk thread or fine wool yarn and occasionally gold, silver and cotton thread are used in their production. Wool carpets produced for the palace had 60–65 knots per square centimeter, while silk carpets had 80–100 knots. The oldest Hereke carpets, now exhibited in Topkapı and other palaces in Istanbul, contain a wide variety of colours and designs. The typical "palace carpet" features intricate floral designs, including the tulip, daisy, carnation, crocus, rose, lilac, and hyacinth. It often has quarter medallions in the corners. The medallion designs of earlier Ushak carpets was widely used at the Hereke factory. These medallions are curved on the horizontal axis and taper to points on the vertical axis. Hereke prayer rugs feature patterns of geometric motifs, tendrils and lamps as background designs within the representation of a
mihrab ''Mihrab'' (, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "''qibla'' wall". ...
(prayer niche). Once referring solely to carpets woven at Hereke, the term "Hereke carpet" now refers to any high quality carpet woven using similar techniques.


Modern history: Decline and revival

The modern history of carpets and rugs began in the nineteenth century when increasing demand for handmade carpets arose on the international market. However, the traditional, hand-woven, naturally dyed Turkish carpet is a very labour-intense product, as each step in its manufacture requires considerable time, from the preparation, spinning, dyeing of the wool to setting up the loom, knotting each knot by hand, and finishing the carpet before it goes to market. In an attempt to save on resources and cost, and maximise on profit in a competitive market environment, synthetic
dyes Juan de Guillebon, better known by his stage name DyE, is a French musician. He is known for the music video of the single "Fantasy (DyE song), Fantasy" from his first album ''Taki 183 (album), Taki 183''. This video became popular, attracting ...
, non-traditional weaving tools like the power loom, and standardized designs were introduced. This led to a rapid breakdown of the tradition, resulting in the degeneration of an art which had been cultivated for centuries. The process was recognized by art historians as early as in 1902. It is hitherto unknown when exactly this process of degeneration started, but it is observed mainly since the large-scale introduction of synthetic colours took place. In the late twentieth century, the loss of cultural heritage was recognized, and efforts started to revive the tradition. Initiatives were started aiming at re-establishing the ancient tradition of carpet weaving from handspun, naturally dyed wool. The return to traditional dyeing and weaving by the producers, and the renewed customer interest in these carpets was termed by Eilland as the "Carpet Renaissance".


Carpet weaving: Materials, technique, processes

In traditional households, women and girls take up carpet and kilim weaving as a hobby as well as a means of earning money. Women learn their weaving skills at an early age, taking months or even years to complete the pile rugs and flat woven kilims that were created for their use in daily life."Kilim Rugs: Timeless Beauty"
. kilims.org. Retrieved 2016-01-27.


Materials

Makers of handmade rugs use only natural fibres. The most common materials used for the pile are wool, silk and cotton. Nomadic and village weavers sometimes also use goat- and camel-hair. Traditionally, spinning is done by
hand A hand is a prehensile, multi-fingered appendage located at the end of the forearm or forelimb of primates such as humans, chimpanzees, monkeys, and lemurs. A few other vertebrates such as the Koala#Characteristics, koala (which has two thumb#O ...
. Several strands of yarn are then
plied In the textile arts, plying (from the French verb ''plier'', "to fold", from the Latin verb ''plico'', from the ancient Greek verb .) is a process of twisting one or more strings (called strands or plies) of yarn together to create a stronger yarn ...
together so that the resulting yarn is strong enough to be used for weaving. Sheep's wool is the most frequently used pile material in a Turkish rug because it is soft, durable, easy to work with and not too expensive. It is less susceptible to dirt than cotton, does not react electrostatically, and insulates against both heat and cold. This combination of characteristics is not found in other natural fibers. Wool comes from the coats of sheep. Natural wool comes in colors of white, brown, fawn, yellow and gray, which are sometimes used directly without going through a dyeing process, sheep's wool also takes dyes well. Traditionally, wool used for Turkish carpets is spun by hand. Before the yarn can be used for weaving, several strands have to be twisted together for additional strength.
Cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...
is used primarily in the foundation, the warps and wefts of rugs. Cotton is stronger than wool, and, when used for the foundation, makes a carpet lie flat on the ground, as it is not as easily distorted as woolen strings. Some weavers, such as Turkomans, also use cotton for weaving small white details into the rug in order to create contrast. Wool-on-wool (wool pile on wool warp and weft): This is the most traditional type of Anatolian rug. Wool-on-wool carpet weaving dates back further and utilizes more traditional design-motifs than its counterparts. Because wool cannot be spun extra finely, the knot count is often not as high as seen in a "wool-on-cotton" or "silk-on-silk" rug. Wool-on-wool carpets are more frequently attributed to tribal or nomadic production. Wool-on-
cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...
(wool pile on cotton warp and weft): This particular combination facilitates a more intricate design-pattern than a "wool-on-wool carpet", as cotton can be finely spun which allows for a higher knot-count. A "wool-on-cotton" rug is often indicative of a town weaver. Due to their higher pile density, wool-on-cotton carpets are heavier than wool-on-wool rugs.
Silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...
-on-silk (silk pile on silk warp and weft): This is the most intricate type of carpet, featuring a very fine weave. Knot counts on some superior-quality "silk-on-silk" rugs can be as high as 28×28 knots/cm2. Knot counts for silk carpets intended for floor coverings should be no greater than 100 knots per square cm, or 10×10 knots/cm2. Carpets woven with a knot count greater than 10×10 knots/cm2 are intended to be used as a wall or pillow tapestry, because their fabric is less resistant to mechanical stress. These very fine, intricately-woven rugs and carpets are usually no larger than 3×3 m.


Dyes and dyeing

Traditional dyes used for Anatolian carpets are obtained from plants, insects and minerals. In 1856, the English chemist William Henry Perkin invented the first
aniline Aniline (From , meaning ' indigo shrub', and ''-ine'' indicating a derived substance) is an organic compound with the formula . Consisting of a phenyl group () attached to an amino group (), aniline is the simplest aromatic amine. It is an in ...
dye, mauveine. A variety of other synthetic
dyes Juan de Guillebon, better known by his stage name DyE, is a French musician. He is known for the music video of the single "Fantasy (DyE song), Fantasy" from his first album ''Taki 183 (album), Taki 183''. This video became popular, attracting ...
were invented thereafter. Cheap, readily prepared and easy to use as they were compared to natural dyes, their use is documented in Ushak carpets already by the mid-1860s. The tradition of natural dyeing was recently revived, based on chemical analyses of natural dyes from antique wool samples, and experimental re-creation of dyeing recipes and processes, in the early 1980s. According to these analyses, natural dyes used in Anatolian rugs include: * ''Red'' from Madder (Rubia tinctorum) roots, * ''Yellow'' from plants, including onion (Allium cepa), several chamomile species (
Anthemis ''Anthemis'' is a genus of aromatic flowering plants in the family (biology), family Asteraceae, closely related to ''Chamaemelum'', and like that genus, known by the common name chamomile; some species are also called dog-fennel or mayweed. ''An ...
, Matricaria chamomilla), and
Euphorbia ''Euphorbia'' is a large and diverse genus of flowering plants, commonly called spurge, in the family (biology), family Euphorbiaceae. Euphorbias range from tiny annual plants to large and long-lived trees, with perhaps the tallest being ''Eu ...
, * ''Black'': Oak apples, Oak acorns, Tanner's sumach, * ''Green'' by double dyeing with
Indigo InterGlobe Aviation Limited (d/b/a IndiGo), is an India, Indian airline headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana, India. It is the largest List of airlines of India, airline in India by passengers carried and fleet size, with a 64.1% domestic market ...
and yellow dye, * ''Orange'' by double dyeing with madder red and yellow dye, * ''Blue'':
Indigo InterGlobe Aviation Limited (d/b/a IndiGo), is an India, Indian airline headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana, India. It is the largest List of airlines of India, airline in India by passengers carried and fleet size, with a 64.1% domestic market ...
gained from
Indigofera tinctoria ''Indigofera tinctoria'', also called true indigo, is a species of plant from the bean family that was one of the original sources of indigo dye. Description True indigo is a shrub high. It may be an annual plant, annual, biennial plant, bie ...
. The dyeing process involves the preparation of the yarn in order to make it susceptible for the proper dyes by immersion in a mordant, immersing the yarn in the dyeing solution, and leaving it to dry exposed to air and sunlight. Some colours, especially dark brown, require iron mordants, which can damage or fade the fabric. This often results in faster pile wear in areas dyed in dark brown colours, and may create a relief effect in antique Turkish carpets. With modern synthetic
dyes Juan de Guillebon, better known by his stage name DyE, is a French musician. He is known for the music video of the single "Fantasy (DyE song), Fantasy" from his first album ''Taki 183 (album), Taki 183''. This video became popular, attracting ...
, nearly every colour and shade can be obtained so that it is nearly impossible to identify, in a finished carpet, whether natural or artificial dyes were used. Modern carpets can be woven with carefully selected synthetic colours, and provide artistic and utilitarian value. The Anatolian rug is distinct from carpets of other provenience in that it makes more pronounced use of primary colours. Western Anatolian carpets prefer red and blue colours, whereas Central Anatolian use more red and yellow, with sharp contrasts set in white.


Weaving and finishing

A variety of tools are needed in the construction of a handmade rug. A
loom A loom is a device used to weaving, weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the Warp (weaving), warp threads under tension (mechanics), tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of ...
, a horizontal or upright framework, is needed to mount the vertical warps into which the pile nodes are knotted, and one or more shoots of horizontal wefts are woven ("shot") in after each row of knots in order to further stabilize the fabric. Wefts can be either undyed or dyed, mostly in red and blue. The pile knots are usually knotted by hand. Most rugs from Anatolia utilize the symmetrical Turkish double knot. Each knot is made on two warps. With this form of knotting, each end of the pile thread is twisted around two warp threads at regular intervals, so that both ends of the knot come up between two strands on one side of the carpet. The thread is then pulled downwards and cut with a knife. After a row of knots has been inserted, one or two, sometimes more, rows of wefts are woven in, and the fabric is compacted by beating with a heavy comb. Once the carpet is finished, it is cut from the loom. The sides or selvages are usually overcast in wool. The selvages consist of up to ten warp threads. Especially village and nomadic rugs have flat-woven
kilim A kilim ( ; ; ) is a flat tapestry-weaving, woven carpet or rug traditionally produced in countries of the former Persian Empire, including Iran and Turkey, but also in the Balkans and the Turkic countries. Kilims can be purely decorative ...
ends, sometimes including pile-woven tribal signs or village crests. The pile of the carpet is shorn with special knives in order to obtain an equal surface. In some carpets, a relief effect is obtained by clipping the pile unevenly. Finally, the carpet is washed before it is used, or goes to the market. The upright pile of Turkish rugs usually falls in one direction, as knots are always pulled down before the string of pile yarn is cut off and work resumes on the next knot, piling row after row of knots on top of each other. When touching a carpet, this creates a feeling similar to stroking an animal's fur. This can be used to determine where the weaver has started knotting the pile. The pile in Turkish carpets is usually between 2 and 4 mm thick. Coarse nomadic rugs like the Yürük rugs, can be as thick as 12 mm. A special bedding carpet called ''yatak'' may reach a pile thickness of 20 to 25 mm.


Origins and traditions of Anatolian rug design

Anatolian rug design integrates different strands of traditions. Specific elements are closely related to the history of
Turkic peoples Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West Asia, West, Central Asia, Central, East Asia, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose members ...
and their interaction with surrounding cultures, in their central Asian origin as well as during their migration, and in Anatolia itself. The most important cultural influences came from the Chinese culture, and from Islam. Carpets from the Bergama and
Konya Konya is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium. In 19th-century accounts of the city in En ...
areas are considered as most closely related to earlier Anatolian rugs, and their significance in the history of the art is now better understood.


Central Asian traditions

The early history of the
Turkic peoples Turkic peoples are a collection of diverse ethnic groups of West Asia, West, Central Asia, Central, East Asia, East, and North Asia as well as parts of Europe, who speak Turkic languages.. "Turkic peoples, any of various peoples whose members ...
in Central Asia is closely related to China. Contacts between Turks and China are documented since the early
Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...
. In his essay on centralized designs, Thompson relates the central medallion pattern, frequently found in Anatolian rugs to the "lotus pedestal" and "cloud collar (yun chien)" motifs, used in the art of Buddhist Asia, which he dated back to Yuan dynasty China. Recently, Brüggemann further elaborated on the relationship between Chinese and Turkic motifs like the "cloud band" ornament, the origin of which he relates to the
Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...
. The early Anatolian "Phoenix and Dragon rug" depicts another traditional motif of Chinese mythology, the fight between the phoenix (
Fenghuang ''Fenghuang'' () are mythological birds featuring in traditions throughout the Sinosphere. ''Fenghuang'' are understood to reign over all other birds: males and females were originally termed ''feng'' and ''huang'' respectively, but a gender ...
) and the
dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...
.


Romano-Hellenistic traditions

There are documentary records of carpets being used by the ancient Greeks.
Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...
writes in Ilias XVII,350 that the body of Patroklos is covered with a "splendid carpet". In
Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...
Book VII and X "carpets" are mentioned.
Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...
wrote ( nat. VIII, 48) that carpets ("polymita") were invented in Alexandria. It is unknown whether these were flatweaves or pile weaves, as no detailed technical information can be gained from the texts. Athenaeus of Naucratis describes luxurious carpets in his Deipnosophists, written about 230 AD.
"And under these there were strewed purple carpets of the finest wool, with the carpet pattern on both sides. And there were handsomely embroidered rugs very beautifully elaborated on them." (Book V, p. 314)
" ..to lie on a couch with silver feet, with a smooth Sardian carpet spread under it of the most expensive description." (Book VI, p. 401)
A carpet "with the pattern on both sides" could either be a flat-woven, or pile-woven carpet. Whether "purple" refers to the colour of the fabric or to the dyestuff (either
Tyrian purple Tyrian purple ( ''porphúra''; ), also known as royal purple, imperial purple, or imperial dye, is a reddish-purple natural dye. The name Tyrian refers to Tyre, Lebanon, once Phoenicia. It is secreted by several species of predatory sea snails ...
or madder red could have been used) remains unknown. The town of
Sardis Sardis ( ) or Sardes ( ; Lydian language, Lydian: , romanized: ; ; ) was an ancient city best known as the capital of the Lydian Empire. After the fall of the Lydian Empire, it became the capital of the Achaemenid Empire, Persian Lydia (satrapy) ...
lies in Western Anatolia, thus, this may be the earliest reference to carpet production in the region of Asia minor.
Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
was ruled by the Roman Empire since 133 BCE. The East Roman (Byzantine) and
Sasanian The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranians"), was an Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, the length of the Sasanian dynasty's reign ...
Empires have coexisted for more than 400 years. Artistically, both empires have developed similar styles and decorative vocabulary, as exemplified by mosaics and architecture of Roman
Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; , ) "Antioch on Daphne"; or "Antioch the Great"; ; ; ; ; ; ; . was a Hellenistic Greek city founded by Seleucus I Nicator in 300 BC. One of the most important Greek cities of the Hellenistic period, it served as ...
. A Turkish carpet pattern depicted on
Jan van Eyck Jan van Eyck ( ; ; – 9 July 1441) was a Flemish people, Flemish painter active in Bruges who was one of the early innovators of what became known as Early Netherlandish painting, and one of the most significant representatives of Early Nort ...
's "Paele Madonna" painting was traced back to late Roman origins and related to early Islamic floor mosaics found in the Umayyad palace of Khirbat al-Mafjar. The architectural elements seen in the Khirbat al-Mafjar complex are considered exemplary for the continuation of pre-Islamic, Roman designs in early Islamic art.


Islamic traditions

When Turkic migrants moved from Central Asia to
Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
, they were migrating mainly through lands which had already adopted Islam. Depicting animals or humans is prohibited in the Islamic tradition, which does not distinguish between religious and profane life. Since the codification of the
Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
by
Uthman Ibn Affan Uthman ibn Affan (17 June 656) was the third caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, ruling from 644 until Assassination of Uthman, his assassination in 656. Uthman, a second cousin, son-in-law, and notable Companions of the Prophet, companion of ...
in 651 AD/19 AH and the
Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...
Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan ibn al-Hakam (; July/August 644 or June/July 647 – 9 October 705) was the fifth Umayyad caliph, ruling from April 685 until his death in October 705. A member of the first generation of born Muslims, his early life in ...
reforms,
Islamic art Islamic art is a part of Islamic culture and encompasses the visual arts produced since the 7th century CE by people who lived within territories inhabited or ruled by Muslims, Muslim populations. Referring to characteristic traditions across ...
has focused on writing and ornament. The borders of Anatolian rugs frequently contain ornaments which were derived from
Islamic calligraphy Islamic calligraphy is the artistic practice of penmanship and calligraphy, in the languages which use Arabic alphabet or the Arabic script#Additional letters used in other languages, alphabets derived from it. It is a highly stylized and struc ...
. Usually, these "kufic" borders consist of lam-alif- or alif-lam sequences in an interwoven pattern. The main fields of Anatolian rugs are frequently filled with redundant, interwoven patterns in "infinite repeat". Thus, the rug represents a section of an infinite pattern, which is imagined as continuing beyond its borders and into the infinite. A specific Islamic pattern is the mihrab pattern which defines the
Prayer rug A prayer rug or prayer mat is a piece of fabric, sometimes a pile carpet, used by Muslims, some Christians, especially in Orthodox Christianity and some followers of the Baháʼí Faith during prayer. In Islam, a prayer mat is placed between th ...
. A prayer rug is characterized by a niche at one end, representing the
mihrab ''Mihrab'' (, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "''qibla'' wall". ...
in every mosque, a directional point to direct the
worship Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity or God. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recognition of a God. An act of worship may be performed individually, in an informal or formal group, ...
per towards
Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...
. The mihrab pattern in Turkish carpets is often modified and may consist of a single, double, or vertically or horizontally multiplied niche. Thus the niche pattern can range from a concrete, architectural to a more ornamental understanding of the design. Prayer rugs are often woven "upside down", as becomes apparent when the direction of the pile is felt by touching the carpet. This has both technical (the weaver can focus on the more complicated niche design first), and practical reasons (the pile inclines in the direction of the worshipper's prostration).


Other cultural influences

Large, geometric shapes are considered to be of Caucasian or Turkmen origin. The Caucasian tradition may have been integrated either by migrating Turkish tribes, or by contact with Turkmen people already living in Anatolia. A central medallion consisting of large, concentrically reduced rhomboid patterns with latch-hook ornaments is associated with the Yörük nomads of Anatolia. The name Yürük is usually given to nomads whose way of life has changed least from its central Asian origin. In Anatolia, several ethnic minorities have maintained separate traditions, e.g., the Greek, Armenians, and Kurds. Whilst Greeks and Armenians were involved in carpet weaving and trading in the past, no design motifs have been clearly associated with their distinct, Christian culture. Kurdish rug design differs from Anatolian. Kurdish rugs are more often discussed together with
Persian carpet A Persian carpet ( ), Persian rug ( ),Savory, R., ''Carpets'',(Encyclopaedia Iranica); accessed 30 January 2007. or Iranian carpet is a heavy textile made for a wide variety of utilitarian and symbolic purposes and produced in Iran (histo ...
s.


Social context: Court and town, village and nomadic production

Carpets and rugs were simultaneously produced by and for the four different social levels of court, town, rural village, and tribe. Elements of town design were often reproduced in rural production, and integrated by the village weavers into their own artistic tradition by a process called stylization.


Court manufacture

Representative "court" rugs were woven by special workshops, often founded and protected by the sovereign, with the intention to represent power and status. As such, representative carpets have developed a specific design tradition influenced by the courts of the surrounding empires. Rugs were produced in the court manufactures as special commissions or gifts. Their elaborate design required a division of work between an artist who created a design plan (termed "cartoon") on paper, and a weaver who was given the plan for execution on the loom. Thus, artist and weaver were separated.


Town and village production

Carpets were woven in town manufactures by organized manufactories. Usually, town manufactures have a larger range of patterns and ornaments and more artistically developed designs which can be executed by the weavers, the palette of colours is rich, and the weaving technique may be finer due to their access to high-quality wool, and the employment of specialized weavers. Larger formats can be produced on the larger, stationary looms. Carpets are woven from cartoons, using material provided by the manufacturer. The town manufactories may accept commissions even from foreign countries, and produce carpets for export. Rugs produced in villages are often produced in individual homes, but at least partly commissioned and supervised by guilds or manufacturers. Home production may not require full-time labour, but could be performed when time allows, besides other household tasks. Village carpets as essential household items were part of a tradition that was at times influenced by, but essentially distinct from the invented designs of the workshop production. Frequently, mosques had acquired rural carpets as charitable gifts, which provided material for studies. Rural carpets rarely include cotton for warps and wefts, and almost never silk, as these materials had to be purchased on the market by the individual weaver. Patterns and ornaments from court manufactory rugs were reproduced by smaller (town or village) workshops. This process is well documented for Ottoman prayer rugs. As prototypical court designs were passed on to smaller workshops, and from one generation to the next, the design underwent a process termed stylization, comprizing series of small, incremental changes either in the overall design, or in details of smaller patterns and ornaments, over time. As a result, the prototype may be modified to an extent as to be barely recognizable. Initially misunderstood as the "degeneration" of a design, the process of stylization is now regarded as a genuine creative process within a distinct design tradition. Stylization in Anatolian prayer rug design File:Carpet with Triple-arch Design MET DP166876.jpg, Ottoman court prayer rug, Bursa, late 16th century (James Ballard collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art) File:Turkish - Prayer Rug - Google Art Project.jpg, Turkish prayer rug File:Prayer rug, Turkey, Bergama, late 19th century, wool - Huntington Museum of Art - DSC04879.JPG, Bergama prayer rug, late 19th century


Nomadic and tribal production

With the end of the traditional nomadic lifestyle in Anatolia, and the consequent loss of specific traditions, it has become difficult to identify a genuine "nomadic rug". Social or ethnic groups known for their nomadic lifestyle like the Yürük or
Kurds Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...
in contemporary Turkey have in large parts acquired sedentary lifestyles. Some aspects of the tradition, like the use of specific materials, dyes, weaving or finishing techniques or designs may have been preserved, which can be identified as specifically nomadic or tribal. Criteria for a nomadic production include: * Unusual materials like warps made of goat's hair, or camel wool in the pile; * high quality wool with long pile (Anatolian and Turkmen nomads); * small format fitting for a horizontal loom; * irregular format due to frequent re-assembly of the loom, resulting in irregular tension of the warps; * pronounced abrash (irregularities within the same colour due to dyeing of yarn in small batches); * inclusion of flat weaves at the ends. Within the genre of carpet weaving, the most authentic village and nomadic products were those woven to serve the needs of the community, which were not intended for export or trade other than local. This includes specialized bags and bolster covers (') in Anatolia, which show designs adapted from the earliest weaving traditions.


Regions

Anatolia can be divided into three major areas of rug production, centered around local towns and marketplaces, which often lend their names to the rugs produced in the surrounding area. Western, Central, and Eastern Anatolia have distinct weaving traditions. However, commercially produced rugs are often woven irrespective of local design traditions. Preferential use of different materials and dyes, as well as characteristic designs, sometimes allow for a more specific assignment of a carpet to one of the three regions, or to a more specific weaving place.


Regional technical characteristics


Western Anatolia

As a group, Western Anatolian rugs often show a bright brick red and lighter reddish colours. White accents are prominent, and green and yellow are more frequently seen than in rugs from other regions of Anatolia. The wefts are often dyed red. The selvages are reinforced over 3-4 warp cords. The ends of the rug are often protected by flat weave
kilim A kilim ( ; ; ) is a flat tapestry-weaving, woven carpet or rug traditionally produced in countries of the former Persian Empire, including Iran and Turkey, but also in the Balkans and the Turkic countries. Kilims can be purely decorative ...
s containing a small ornament woven in pile. *
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
is the largest city of
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
. During the nineteenth century, the court manufactories of Topkapı, Üsküdar, and Kum Kapı produced silk carpets in "Safavid-Osmanic" designs modelled on those of the sixteenth century, employing Armenian (from the areas of Kayseri and Sivas), and Persian weavers. Kum Kapı was, in the nineteenth century, the Armenian quarter of Istanbul. The asymmetrical knot was used. Silk carpets produced here often were woven with silver and gold threads. Two of the most prominent designer weavers were Zareh Penyamian and Tossounian. Zareh is known for his prayer rugs, which often included the "Sultan's head" form of the mihrab, cloud bands in the prayer field, palmettes and arabesque patterns and
Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
ic inscriptions. He often signed his carpets. Tossounian made silk rugs with high pile, glowing colours, and red kilim endings. The design was inspired by Persian animal carpets of the "Sanguszko" type. Colours are very elaborate, carmine red, jade green, yellow, and dark bright indigo. * Hereke is a coastal town 60 kilometers from Istanbul on the bay of
İzmit İzmit () is a municipality and the capital Districts of Turkey, district of Kocaeli Province, Turkey. Its area is 480 km2, and its population is 376,056 (2022). The capital of Kocaeli Province, it is located at the Gulf of İzmit in the Sea ...
. A weaving workshop was established in 1843 by Sultan Abdülmecid I. Initially, the manufactory produced exclusively for the Ottoman court, which commissioned carpets for the Dolmabahçe Palace. Carpet production began in Hereke in 1891 and expert carpet weavers were brought in from the carpet weaving centers of
Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...
,
Manisa Manisa () is a city in Turkey's Aegean Region and the administrative seat of Manisa Province, lying approximately 40 km northeast of the major city of İzmir. The city forms the urban part of the districts Şehzadeler and Yunusemre, with ...
and Ladik. Hereke carpets are known primarily for their fine weave. Silk thread or fine wool yarn and occasionally gold, silver and cotton thread are used in their production. Hereke court carpets contain a wide variety of colours and designs. The medallion designs of earlier Ushak carpets was widely used at the Hereke factory. Once referring solely to carpets woven at Hereke, the term "Hereke carpet" is now used as a trade name for any high quality carpet woven with similar design. * Bergama is the capital town of a district in the
İzmir Province İzmir Province () is a province and metropolitan municipality of Turkey in western Anatolia, situated along the Aegean coast. Its capital is the city of İzmir, which is in itself composed of the province's central 11 districts out of 30 in to ...
of northwest Turkey. As a market place for the surrounding villages, the name of Bergama is used as a trade name. The history of carpet weaving in Bergama probably dates back to the 11th century. Bergama carpets survived which date from the early 15th century. The best known carpet type woven for export which is attributed to the Bergama region is the so-called "large pattern Holbein Type", or Holbein Type III. A late descendant of the large-pattern Holbein design is often seen in Bergama carpets, called the "4+1" or "quincunxial" design, with a large square central medallion surrounded by four smaller squares placed at its corners. Also antique Anatolian carpets found in Transylvanian churches were likely woven in Bergama. Bergama rugs typically have large geometric patterns (the "Caucasian" type) or more floral patterns, stylized in rectilinear design (the "Turkish" type). They use typical Western Anatolian colour schemes with dark red and blue, and accents set in white. Bridal carpets ("Kiz Bergama") often show rosettes arranged in a lozenge pattern in their field panels. Village and peasant carpets from the Bergama area often show coarser knotting with bold, highly stylized designs and bright blue, red, and white colours in sharp contrast. * The village of Kozak lies north of Bergama in the İzmir Province of northwest Turkey. By structure and colours they belong to the Bergama group. Small format rugs show geometrical designs, often adorned with latched hooks, which closely resembles Caucasian designs. * Yagcibedir is not a town name, but a label for a carpet type woven in the
Balıkesir Balıkesir () is a city in the Marmara Region, Marmara region of Turkey. It is the seat of Balıkesir Province, which is also a Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality. As of 2022, the population of Balıkesir Province ...
province in the Marmara region. These carpets are characterized by their high knot density (1000-1400 per square meter), and subdued colours. They show geometrical patterns in dark red, brown, and black-blue. By their fine weaving, colours and design they resemble Caucasian designs, and are mainly woven by people of Circassian and Turkmen descent who migrated into this area. *
Çanakkale Çanakkale is a city and seaport in Turkey on the southern shore of the Dardanelles at their narrowest point. It is the seat of Çanakkale Province and Çanakkale District.Dardanelles The Dardanelles ( ; ; ), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli (after the Gallipoli peninsula) and in classical antiquity as the Hellespont ( ; ), is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey th ...
near ancient
Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...
. Carpets are mainly woven in smaller villages to the south of Çanakkale. They show large squares, rhombi or polygons in their fields and strong colours like brick red, bright dark blue, saffron yellow and white. Ayvacık is a village south of Çanakkale and
Ezine An online magazine is a magazine published on the Internet, through bulletin board systems and other forms of public computer networks. One of the first magazines to convert from a print magazine format to an online only magazine was the computer ...
near the ruins of Assos and
Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...
. The carpets are of the Bergama type. Since 1981, the DOBAG initiative runs workshops in the small hamlets around Ayvacık, which produce rugs in traditional designs and with natural dyes. The initiative also has workshops in the Yuntdağ area near Bergama, where people of Turkmen descent weave robust, thick carpets in largely geometric designs. Floral or prayer rug designs are rare. * The area between Balikesir and Eskisehir is inhabited mainly by a Turkish tribe called Karakecili. The rugs are often smaller, with cheerful bright red, light blue, white and pale green. The use of goats's hair for the warps hints at the nomadic origins of the tribe. The design is geometric, often combined with stylized floral motifs. The borders sometimes contain rows of lozenges, as also seen in more elaborate form in "Transylvanian" carpets. * Bandırma is the capital town of the province to which it has given its name. The town lies on the Marmara coast. Since the nineteenth century, intricately woven carpets are produced mainly in prayer rug design. The cotton foundation and finely knotted pile of wool and silk characterizes the Bandırma carpet as a product of town manufacture. Production declined during the late nineteenth century, with inferior or artificial silk and mercerized cotton being used. The name of the town and region is nowadays often used for cheap imitations sold by other manufacturers. * Gördes lies about 100 km north-east of
İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...
. Carpets were already produced there in the 16th century. Their largely floral, stylized patterns can be traced back to Ottoman floral designs of the sixteenth and seventeenth century. The main border is often composed of rows of three pomegranates, arranged like flowers in groups of three, held together by their stems. Typical is also a broad border of seven stripes ('). Gördes is mostly famous for its bridal and prayer carpets. The shapes of the mihrab niches vary from simple stepped arches to artistic architectural pillars, with a horizontal rectangular crossbar above the mihrab niche. Typical colours are cherry red, pastel pink, blue and green together with dark indigo blue. Early carpets of the Gördes type have a more lively colour. Since the 19th century, some pieces show spacious accents in white cotton, and the colours, overall, become more subdued. * Kula is the capital town of the
Manisa Province Manisa Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality in western Turkey. Its area is 13,339 km2, and its population is 1,468,279 (2022). Its neighboring provinces are İzmi ...
, and lies about 100 km east of İzmir on the road to Ușak. Together with Ușak, Gördes, Lâdik and Bergama it belongs to the most important rug weaving centers of Anatolia. Prayer rug designs are common, with straight-lined mihrab niches. Another specific design is called "'", or graveyard design, which is a subtype of the garden design. The particularly gloomy yet brilliant colour scheme caused one type of rugs from this area to be called "Kömürcü ("charcoal burner") Kula". A combination with predominantly yellow borders is characteristic for Kula carpets. Unusual for Anatolian, and even for Oriental rugs, the rug type called "Kendirli" Kula makes use of hemp in its foundation. A number of "Transylvanian" rugs are attributed to the Kula area. * Uşak lies north of
Denizli Denizli is a city in Aegean Region, Aegean Turkey, and seat of the province of Denizli Province, Denizli. The city forms the urban part of the districts Merkezefendi and Pamukkale, Denizli, Pamukkale, with a population of 691 783 in 2024. Denizl ...
in the
Aegean Region The Aegean region () is one of the 7 Geographical regions of Turkey, geographical regions of Turkey. The largest city in the region is İzmir. Other big cities are Manisa, Aydın, Denizli, Muğla, Afyonkarahisar and Kütahya. Located in w ...
. It is one of the most renowned and important carpet centres. According to their structure and patterns there are several types of carpets called "star", "medallion" and "white-ground" Ușak carpets. Frequently depicted by European painters during the
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
era, they are often given, as a term of convenience, the name of the painter on whose paintings corresponding carpets have been identified. The best known are Holbein and Lotto carpets. *
Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...
carpets are woven in the surrounding of the town today known as
İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...
. Their more elaborate, curvilinear "town designs" distinguish Smyrna carpets from the products of other Anatolian centers. Single ornaments are directly related to Ottoman "court" carpets. In particular, the main borders often contain elongated cartouches like those seen in "Transylvanian" carpets. *
Milas Milas is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Muğla Province, Turkey. Its area is 2,067 km2, and its population is 147,416 (2022). The city commands a region with an active economy and is very rich in history and ancient rema ...
lies on the south-western coast of the
Aegean Region The Aegean region () is one of the 7 Geographical regions of Turkey, geographical regions of Turkey. The largest city in the region is İzmir. Other big cities are Manisa, Aydın, Denizli, Muğla, Afyonkarahisar and Kütahya. Located in w ...
. Since the 18th century, predominantly carpets with a "prayer rug" design and characteristic "gathered" mihrabs are woven here. Other types include the Ada (island) Milas rugs from the area of Karaova, with vertically twisted polygons in their fields, and the rare medallion Milas rug with a mostly yellow-gold medallion on a red background. Their borders often show crystalline star shaped ornaments composed by arrow-like ornaments pointing towards the center. Similar designs are also found in Caucasian carpets. Commonly used colours include pale violet, warm yellow, and pale green. The field panel ground is often a brick red. * Megri lies on the Turkish south coast, opposite the island of
Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...
. In 1923, it was renamed Fethiye. Megri rugs often show a division of the inner field into three different long fields, with floral patterns inscribed. Prayer rug designs with stepped gable bands are also seen. Typical colours are yellow, bright red, light and dark blue, and white. Megri rugs are also sold under the name of Milas, and it is sometimes difficult to differentiate these two products of town manufacture. * Isparta in Pisidia emerged as a new centre of Anatolian rug production in the late 1880s. The city, until then renowned for its rose production, developed into a competitive carpet weaving centre with significant export activity. A major role in this development was played by the Oriental Carpet Manufacturers one of the largest companies active in this field, which bought the carpets on a monopoly based system, whereas it also provided the weavers with primary material, such as dyed yarns, and with technical assistance, namely specialized personnel who could improve the processes and final products. Isparta carpets came in a standard quality, which enhanced their commercial value and demand. Their main feature was the cotton weft and the use of asymmetric knots. Many of them belonged to the prayer-rug type, with triangular patterns which remind of a mihrab. The Isparta type rug, considered by Kahramanos, a standardized product of the 19th century, is woven with double-stranded yarns and in a smaller number of knots; their initial patterns were imitating popular Asia Minor styles, particularly those of Usak, with a central medallion, decorated corners and lively colours. Soon, they turned to following Persian style, which proved much more popular in the western markets, particularly that of the United States. Later, in the 1920s and 1930s they followed Sarouk patterns. Initially yarns were dyed with natural, plant-based dyes, but soon, as elsewhere, they changed to chemically dyed yarns. The original wool on wool fabric was replaced by a combination of lamb's wool for the weft and cotton or linen for the warp. Carpet production in Isparta followed the technologically innovative solutions of that time such as the aforementioned replacement of natural dyes by chemical ones, which were cheaper. The chemically prepared
aniline Aniline (From , meaning ' indigo shrub', and ''-ine'' indicating a derived substance) is an organic compound with the formula . Consisting of a phenyl group () attached to an amino group (), aniline is the simplest aromatic amine. It is an in ...
s used at first were proved to be inconsistent, but soon chemistry provided new synthetic dyes with steady and standardized colours; this made the reproduction of the same pattern over and over again possible. The use of millimetric paper for designing the patterns allowed workers to reproduce patterns exactly in all their details.Ppapadaki, I.A., " Spartali Iordanis Styloglou (1887-1948), contribution to the development of carpet weaving in Isparta, Asia Minor", Deltion tis Etairias Meletis tis Kath Imas Anatolis, 2 (2006), 161-175. Isparta carpet weaving suffered a severe blow after the expulsion of the Greek Orthodox population in 1922, however Isparta remained a centre for washing and finishing carpets until today.


Central Anatolia

Central Anatolia is one of the main areas of carpet production in Turkey. Regional weaving centers with distinct designs and traditions are: *
Konya Konya is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium. In 19th-century accounts of the city in En ...
(Konya, Konya-Derbent,
Selçuk Selçuk is a municipality and district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 317 km2, and its population is 38,151 (2022). The town Selçuk is located northeast of the ancient city of Ephesus, that was once home to the Temple of Artemis, o ...
, Keçimuslu, Ladik, Innice, Obruk) The town of Konya is the old capital of the Seljuq Empire. The Mevlana Museum in Konya has a large collection of Anatolian rugs, including some of the carpet fragments found in the Alaeddin and Eşrefoğlu Mosque. Carpets from the Konya manufacture often show an elaborate prayer rug design, with a monochrome bright madder red field. Carpets from Konya-Derbent often have two floral medallions woven into the field below the mihrab. The Konya-Selçuk carpet tradition makes use of a lean octagonal medallion in the middle of the field, with three opposed geometrical forms crowned by tulips. Also typical is a broad ornamental main border with detailed, filigree patterns flanked by two secondary borders with meandering vines and flowers. Rugs from Keçimuslu are often sold as Konya rugs, and show a similar bright madder red field, but with prominent green colours in the main border. Konya-Ladik rugs often show prayer rug designs. Their fields are mostly in bright madder red, with stepped mihrab designs. Opposite, and sometimes above, the prayer niche are smaller gables. The gables are often arranged in groups of three, each gable decorated with a stylized, geometric tulip ornament. The tulips are frequently shown upside down at the lower end of the prayer niche. The spandrels are often in golden yellow, and show water ewer ornaments. The "Ladik sinekli" design is also specific for Ladik. On a white or cream white field, a multitude of small black ornaments is arranged, which resemble flies (Turk.: "''sinek''"). Innice rugs resemble Ladik rugs in their use of tulip ornaments, the bold red field complemented by the bright green foundation of the spandrels. Obruk rugs show the typical Konya design and colours, but their ornaments are more bold and stylized, resembling the Yürük traditions of the weavers from this village. Obruk rugs are sometimes also sold in Kayseri. *
Kayseri Kayseri () is a large List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. Historically known as Caesarea (Mazaca), Caesarea, it has been the historical capital of Cappadocia since anc ...
(Kayseri, Avanos,
Ürgüp Ürgüp ( ''Prokópio,'' Cappadocian Greek: ''Prokópi'', ) is a town in Nevşehir province in the Cappadocia area of Central Anatolia, Turkey. It is the seat of Ürgüp District.Kırşehir, Mucur,
Ortaköy Ortaköy (, ''Middle Village)'' is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Beşiktaş, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its population is 9,121 (2024). It is on the European shore of the Bosphorus. it was originally a small fishing villag ...
, İncesu) Kayseri rugs are distinguished by their fine weaving which characterizes the manufactory production, which is prevalent in this area. The rugs are produced mainly for export, and imitate designs from other regions. Wool, silk, and artificial silk are used. The top products of the Kayseri manufactures come very close to those from Hereke and Kum-Kapı. Ürgüp, Avanos and İncesu are
Cappadocia Cappadocia (; , from ) is a historical region in Central Anatolia region, Turkey. It is largely in the provinces of Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. Today, the touristic Cappadocia Region is located in Nevşehir ...
n towns. Carpets from Avanos, often in prayer rug design, are distinguished by their dense weaving. Typically, an elaborate pendant representing either a Mosque lamp or a triangular protective amulet ("''mosca''") hanging from the prayer niche adorns the field. The prayer niches are often stepped, or drawn in at its sides in the classical "head-and-shoulders" shape. The field is often in bright red, and surrounded by golden yellow spandrels and borders. The fine weaving allows for elaborate ornamental patterns, which make the Avanos carpet easy to identify amongst other rugs. Ürgüp carpets are distinguished by their colours. Brown-gold is dominant, bright orange and yellow are often seen. A medallion within a medallion frequently is set into the field, which is of a typical "Ürgüp red" colour, adorned with floral motifs. Palmettes fill the corner medallions and the main borders. The outermost secondary border often has reciprocal crenellations. Rugs from Kırşehir, Mucur and Ortaköy are closely related, and not easily distinguished from each other. Prayer and medallion designs are woven, as well as garden ("''mazarlik''", or "graveyard") designs. Pale turquois blue, pale green and rose colours are prevalent. Rugs from Ortaköy show a hexagonal central ornament, often including a cruciform pattern. The borders show stylized carnations arranged in a row of square compartments. Mucur carpets often show a stepped "prayer niche within a prayer niche" design, with contrasting bright madder red and light indigo colours separated by yellow outlines. The borders are composed of rows of squares filled with geometric diamond or rhomboid patterns. Mucur and Kırşehir are also known for their multiple-niche prayer rugs, or ''"saph"''. * Niğde (Niğde, Taşpınar, Fertek, Maden, Yahyalı, Yeşilhisar, Karapinar,
Karaman Karaman is a city in south central Turkey, located in Central Anatolia, north of the Taurus Mountains, about south of Konya. It is the seat of Karaman Province and Karaman District. Carpets from Karapinar and Karaman geographically belong to the Konya area, but their design is more similar to the rugs woven in the Niğde area. The design of some Karapinar rugs shows similarities, but is not related, to Turkmen door rugs (''"ensi"''), as three columns crowned by double hooks ("''kotchak''") frequently form the prayer niche. Opposed "double hook" ornaments fill the columns both in Karapinar and Karaman rugs. Another type of design often seen in Karapinar runners is composed of geometric hexagonal primary motifs arranged on top of each other, in subdued red, yellow, green, and white. *
Sivas Sivas is a city in central Turkey. It is the seat of Sivas Province and Sivas District.İl Beledi ...
(Sivas, Zara, Kangal) State-owned manufactories, some of them organized as weaving schools, produce rugs in Sivas. The design imitates carpets from other regions, especially Persian designs. Traditional Sivas carpets were distinguished by their dense and short, velvet-like pile in elaborate designs which are characteristic for a "town manufactory". The main border is typically composed of rows of three carnations, held together by a stem. Zara, 70 km east of Sivas, has an Armenian colony which produces rugs in a characteristic design composed of row after row of vertical stripes extending over the entire field. Each stripe is filled with elaborate floral arabesques. The pile is clipped very short so that the detailed patterns can be clearly seen.


Eastern Anatolia

We are currently unable to recognize specific local designs in east Anatolian carpets. Until the
Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...
in 1915, East Anatolia had a large Armenian population, and sometimes carpets are identified as of Armenian production by their inscriptions. Information is also lacking with regard to the Kurdish and Turkish carpet production. Research in the 1980s has come to the conclusion that the tradition of weaving has almost vanished, and more specific information may be lost. * Kars is the capital of
Kars Province Kars Province (; Azerbaijani: Qars Rayonu; ; ) is a province of Turkey, located in the northeastern part of the country. It shares part of its closed border with Armenia. Its area is 10,193 km2, and its population is 274,829 (2022). The pr ...
in northeastern Anatolia. Carpets produced around the town are similar to Caucasian rugs, with their colours more subdued. Kars is also used as a trade name, related to the quality of the weaving. Carpets of lower quality woven in the Kars region are sometimes called "Hudut" (i.e., frontier) carpets, which are woven in the frontier area between Turkey, Iran, Armenia and Georgia. Typical designs closely resemble the neighbouring Caucasian regions. Kars rugs often show "Kasak" designs as seen in Fachralo, Gendje, and Akstafa rugs, but their structure and materials are different. Kars or Hudut rugs often have goat's hair in pile and foundation. Other East Anatolian rugs are usually not attributed to a specific location, but are classified according to their tribal provenience. As the Kurdish and Yürük tribes were living as nomads for most of their history, they tended to weave traditional tribal, rather than any local, design. If a rug with an overall Yürük design can be attributed to a specific region (as Yürüks also live in other regions of Anatolia), the name "Yürük" sometimes precedes the regional name. The region around the towns of
Diyarbakır Diyarbakır is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province. Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, it is ...
, Hakkâri, and the Van province has a large Kurdish population. The towns of Hakkâri and
Erzurum Erzurum (; ) is a List of cities in Turkey, city in eastern Anatolia, Turkey. It is the largest city and capital of Erzurum Province and is 1,900 meters (6,233 feet) above sea level. Erzurum had a population of 367,250 in 2010. It is the site of an ...
were market places for Kurdish kilims, rugs and smaller weavings like cradles, bags (''heybe'') and tent decorations.


Thematic galleries


Patterns of Central Asian origin: cloud band, lotus seat, cloud collar

File:Antique Red Turkish Oushak Carpet.jpg, Ushak carpet with a ''"cloud band" border and field'', Mecidi period design File:Transylvanian carpet Met 22.100.91.jpg, "Transylvanian" double-niche carpet with a ''central medallion''


Patterns of Islamic origin: Calligraphic borders, infinite repeat field, prayer niche design

File:Small_pattern_Holbein_carpet_Anatolia_16th_century.jpg, Type I small-pattern Holbein carpet with ''"kufic" main border and "infinite repeat" field pattern'',
Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
, 16th century. Image:Western Anatolian knotted woll carpet with 'Lotto' patern, 16th century, Saint Louis Art Museum.jpg, Western
Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
n ‘Lotto carpet’ with ''"kufic" main border and "infinite repeat" field pattern'', 16th century, Saint Louis Art Museum. File:Urgup_Region_Rug_with_Kufic_inner_border._CL_Lane_Collection.jpg, Urgup rug with ''"kufic" inner border'' File:Turkey Prayer rug.jpg, 17th-century Turkish prayer rug with a ''single niche'';
National Museum, Warsaw The National Museum in Warsaw (, MNW) is a national museum in Warsaw, one of the largest museums in Poland and the largest in the capital. It comprises a rich collection of ancient art (Art of ancient Egypt, Egyptian, Art in ancient Greece, Greek, ...
File:Turkey.Konya004.jpg, Kirşehir ''single niche'' prayer rug, Tilavet room, Mevlâna Mausoleum, Konya File:Turkey.Konya031.jpg, Kirşehir ''single niche'' prayer rug, 18th century, Mevlâna Mausoleum, Konya File:Vintage Konya Prayer Seccade. CL Lane Collection.jpg, Konya ''single niche'' prayer rug File:Antique Gaziantep Double Prayer Rug.jpg, Gaziantep ''double-niche'' prayer rug File:Vintage Central Anatolian Tribal Rug.JPG, Central Anatolian ''double-niche'' prayer rug File:Little world, Aichi prefecture - Turkish culture exhibition - Turkish carpet - Made in Nuzumla.jpg, Prayer rug with ''multiplied niches'' File:Selimiye-Mosque-interior.jpg, Edirne Selimiye Mosque interior with ''multiple-niche'' prayer rug (saph) File:TheSultanAhmetCamiiPrayerRugSaphThe Blue Mosque Istanbul2006creditjancadoret.jpg, The Sultan Ahmed Mosque ''multiple-niche'' prayer rug (saph).


See also

* Carpet weaving in Isparta


Types

* Bergama carpet * Hereke carpet * Konya Carpets and Rugs * Milas carpet * Ushak carpet * Yürük rug


Other related rugs and carpets

* Oriental carpet * Armenian carpet *
Kurdish rugs Kurdish rugs () are rugs woven by Kurds in Kurdistan Kurdistan (, ; ), or Greater Kurdistan, is a roughly defined geo- cultural region in West Asia wherein the Kurds form a prominent majority population and the Kurdish culture, languages, ...
* Persian rug * Turkmen rug


References


External links


Anatolian Carpets and Kilims: The Turkish Cultural FoundationOttoman carpets in the Metropolitan MuseumOttoman Silk Velvets at Shangri LaOver 170 pictures from Istanbul carpet museum
{{Rugs and carpets Turkish art Culture of Turkey Turkish inventions Oriental rugs and carpets Turkish rugs and carpets