April Collection of Kilims, Rugs and Textiles

Photos of April finds from Anatolia

Last week I finished taking photo of the kilims, rugs, yatiks and textiles I found in Turkey in April. Below are photos of a small selection. To see the complete collection, with more photos in the various albums of 'Large Kilims', 'Small Rugs' etc. on the Tribal Rugs and Kilims main page click here: www.kilim.ie

If there is anything you are interested in and would like more details, please let me know.

Large east Anatolian Reyhanli kilim

Fine small 1920s Qashqai rug

Small old west Anatolian Korkuteli kilim

Small south Anatolian Mersin kilim

Very large 4.7 metre long old Konya kilim

Large west Anatolian kilim

Large west Anatolian divan cover kilim

Large west Anatolian Sacikara or Karakecili kilim

Fine large Taspinar rug

Very unusual old Dosemealti runner

Finely woven large Ordu prayer kilim

Unusual Konya region Taspinar yatak rug

Fine antique Ottoman period silk jacket

Large antique Shirvan rug

Kurdish east Anatolian rug from the Malatya area

Rare antique Khorasan, Quchan Kurdish rug

Old long west Anatolian Karakecili kilim with dynamic spiral motifs

Old west Anatolian Saçikara yoruk kilim 

See more from new collection here: www.kilim.ie

A rare camel kilim from Khizi north of Shirvan in Azerbaijan

Rare 19th century zili and soumac kilim camel cover from Khizi, Azerbaijan

An interesting and very rare 19th century kilim from Khizi, north of Shirvan in Azerbaijan. Part of a two panel camel cover, or deve chulu, with Turkmen tree of life design elements reminiscent of tent bands and also narrow diamond bands seen in 19th century Shahsavan soumac weavings. The kilim comes from the south Caucasus region of Khizi, north of Shirvan in Azerbaijan, an area historically occupied by both Tat and Turkmen tribes. Some villages in the area were occupied by Tats, some by Turkmen and some villages were mixed. Shahsavans also migrated to the area from the south, around Savalan mountain, in the 16th and 17th centuries. This explains the cross tribal influences in the main tree of life design and soumac and zili bands. Size 120cm x 78cm.

Only one example of a complete camel cover of the same type with tree of life bands is known and is published as Plate 119 in Robert N. Nooter, ‘Rugs and Textiles from the Caucasus’, Atglen PA (2004). There is also a comparable example of a contemporary camel cover in the Azerbaijan National Museum, Carpets and Applied Art in Baku, museum inventory no. 1591, published by Museum Director Roya Tagieva in Azerbaijan Carpets (1999) Plate 293.

To read more about this rare weaving and see detailed photos, click on this link: www.kilim.ie 

www.kilim.ie

Kurdish rugs from east Anatolia

It was sunny all day in West Cork (in between the clouds) and I managed to photograph the rest of my finds from April in Turkey, except for a few rugs and kilims still being repaired. I was on the lookout for good Kurdish pieces, after finding a couple of beautiful examples of these often under-appreciated rugs last year. They come from the part of east Anatolia from Malatya and Sivas down to the Gaziantep area (the one with the orange borders). Here are four rugs and a yastik that just arrived.

For more photos and details of these rugs and other kilims and textiles see  www.kilim.ie

Ottoman Period Silk Jackets

Kathi modelling three Ottoman period silk jackets

I spent April in Turkey and found some wonderful kilims, rugs and textiles. As they catch up with me in Ireland, I am steadily photographing and describing them. 

This morning Kathi modelled some Ottoman period silk jackets, the first is from late 19th century Bulgaria and is made from shining green quilted silk with black glass buttons. It looks so aristocratic, I wonder if it was made for court dress. The other two jackets from the 1920s are Turkish and are made from beautiful floral kutnu silk probably from Gaziantep. Only the yellow jacket is too fragile to wear. The others are in great condition for a collection or for wearing on special occasions. 

For more photos and details, see www.kilim.ie

Two fine antique Syrian silk textile garments from Aleppo

An abaya or abba street dress and a head dress from Aleppo in Syria

The first textile is a late 19th or early 20th century hand woven silk 'abaya' street dress from Aleppo, Syria in a particularly rare light chestnut golden silk (200cm x 186cm). Sometime referred to as an 'abba' street dress, the term abaya is closer to the original Arabic. 'The Modern Traveler' of 1825 refers to Syrian traditional dress of the time and states '...abba ...is the name reserved for the striped robe.'

The second silk garment a very fine Aleppo shawl head dress from the 1920s or 20s woven from silk, linen, gold and silver thread. The last photo shows how the head dress would have been worn. Both these textile garments display design characteristics and fine silk weaving associated with Aleppo and both are also representatives of a tradition that has, sadly, almost disappeared.  

To see more photos of these textiles, please see www.kilim.ie or www.tribal-art.org

A rare east Anatolian kilim baby carrier

A Shavak tribe turik baby carrier from Tunceli in Anatolia

A rare example of a late 19th to early 20th century Shavak Tribe baby carrier called a turik from the Tunceli area of central east Anatolia under the Munzur mountains. Made using a fine soumac weaving technique on the patterned from and a kilim flat weave technique on the striped back. 

Tunceli is known for animal breeding and the Shavak Tribe for its high quality shiny wool as used for the fine soumac weave on the front of this 'turik' baby carrier. The bag is woven with fine sheep wool with natural dyes, including intense cochineal red and indigo blue with finely spun cotton used in the white triangular bands, on a natural sheep wool foundation.

The last illustration below of such a bag in use is in Jon Thompson, 'Carpet Magic', this example woven in two panels on a narrow loom (thanks to Lars j for this reference) and see also Josephine Powell, 'Nomads in Anatolia: Encounters with a Vanishing Culture' for another example. The rectangular form of Shavak Tribe baby carriers distinguishes them from other east Anatolian baby carriers as woven in Van and Hakkari which are triangular in shape.

See more photos of this Shavak Tribe baby carrier and other antique Anatolian kilims on www.kilim.ie

A Beautiful Kagizman kilim from east Anatolia near the border with Armenia.

An old kilim from east Anatolia from Kagizman south of Kars. 

From an area that used to be part of Armenia, this beautiful kilim was woven with soft, shiny wool and beautiful colours in a design classic for the Kagizman district. The thick weave and excellent condition makes this a very useable kilim. Originally a longer kilim, skilfully shortened in the past resulting a very useful medium sized kilim that is very difficult to find. Size 210cm x 152cm.

For detailed photos see the link at the top of the following page: www.kilim.ie