Anatolian Rugs and flat-weaves

“Here they make the most beautiful silks and carpets in the world, and with the most beautiful colors.”

Anatolia (Asia Minor, Asian Turkey, the Anatolian peninsula or the Anatolian plateau) is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It is the Asiatic territory of Turkey.
The area’s bounded to the north by the Black Sea, to the east and south by the Southeastern Taurus Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea, and to the west by the Aegean Sea and Sea of Marmara.
Because of its location at the point where the continents of Asia and Europe meet, Anatolia was, from the beginnings of civilization, a crossroads for numerous peoples migrating or conquering from either continent.
Those who conquered the peninsula make a list of the great Conquerors of Antiquity and Middle Ages, including Cyrus the Great, Alexander the Great, Mithridates the Great, Augustus, Alp Arslan, Osman Ghazi, Tamerlane and Mehmed the Conqueror.
The earliest surviving Anatolian woven rugs were dated to the 13th century, though the craft is much older in the area.
Found in Konya, these rugs were woven at the same time Rumi was working on his masterpiece Masnavi in the city. Rumi’s father was invited by Kayqubad I, the Seljuk Sultan of Rum, to Konya where he wrote his poems.

Kayqubad’s reign represented the apogee of Seljuk power and influence in Anatolia, and Kayqubad himself was considered the most illustrious sultan of the dynasty. He built many mosques and palaces in his realm. Floors of such buildings are normally covered by magnificent carpets. If the number of mosques and palaces increase, carpet weaving would flourish as the result. Designs in some of these Seljuk carpets suggest Turkmen origins or influences, nevertheless these are not tribal pieces. Being big-sized and accurate in weave and design,

these carpets probably woven in city workshops related to the court. With more nomadic migrations into Anatolia, Central Asian patterns and designs became more popular. The Ottoman Empire gradually absorbed the mini-states that emerged in Anatolia after the decline of the Seljuks.

In the Ottoman Court, the glory of Sultans, princes and dignitaries were symbolized by Chintamani motifs, appearing on their garments as well as on royal carpets during the 16th and 17th centuries. Once on Tamerlane’s badge, Chintamani variations were used on Ottoman carpets being considered a token related to Sultan and his Imperial majesty. These pieces were probably woven in Ottoman royal workshops of Ushak, an old city in the west central Anatolia.

Many European painters immortalized Anatolian rugs and carpets in their artworks. The German painter, Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543), may be the most well-known of them, giving his name to the rug pattern depicted in his paintings.

The mass production of Anatolia, however is not consisted of large-sized silken royal pieces, but of village-woven and tribal ones. As we go forward in the history the number of such remained pieces increases.

These are normally arch or prayer rugs (shorter in size and coarser in weave) and a good number of flat-woven pieces such as kilim, cicim, soumak, etc.

Turk villagers and nomads (including Turkmens and Yörüks), Kurds, Armenian, Georgian and Greeks, all were familiar with the practice of weaving, most of them following the common Anatolian structure: woolen foundation and pile and symmetric knotting.

In the first half of the 20th century rug weaving faced a decline in Anatolia, after that a revival began. Under cultural programs, Turkey managed to regain the quality of material, design and weave. Most importantly they stop using chemical dyes, reclaiming the Marko Polo’s quote.

Anatolian Rugs and flat-weaves

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