Kilim

"Kelim" redirects here. For the Mishnaic tractate, see Keilim. For the use of the term in Kabbalah, see Ohr.
Hotamis Kilim (detail), central Anatolia, early 19th century. Photo courtesy Marla Mallett

Kilims (Persian: گلیم‎‎ gelīm, Azerbaijani: Kilim کیلیم, Turkish: Kilim, Turkmen: Kilim) are flat tapestry-woven carpets or rugs produced from the Balkans to Pakistan. Kilims can be purely decorative or can function as prayer rugs. Modern kilims are popular floor-coverings in Western households.

Etymology

The term 'kilim' originates from the Persian gelīm (گلیم) where it means 'to spread roughly',[1] perhaps of Mongolian origin.[2] The Turkish name is kilim.

History

Like pile carpets, kilim have been produced since ancient times. The explorer Mark Aurel Stein found kilims dating to at least the fourth or fifth century CE in Hotan, China:

"As kilims are much less durable than rugs that have a pile to protect the warp and weft, it is not surprising that few of great age remain.... The weave is almost identical with that of modern kilims, and has about fourteen threads of warp and sixteen threads of weft to the inch. The pattern consists of narrow stripes of blue, green, brownish yellow, and red, containing very small geometric designs. With this one exception, so peculiarly preserved, there are probably very few over a century old."[3]

Weaving technique

Diagram of Kilim slit weave technique, showing how the weft threads of each color are wound back from the color boundary, leaving a slit

Kilims are produced by tightly interweaving the warp and weft strands of the weave to produce a flat surface with no pile. Kilim weaves are tapestry weaves, technically weft-faced plain weaves, that is, the horizontal weft strands are pulled tightly downward so that they hide the vertical warp strands.[4]

Turkish kilim, folded to show slits between different coloured areas

When the end of a color boundary is reached, the weft yarn is wound back from the boundary point. Thus, if the boundary of a field is a straight vertical line, a vertical slit forms between the two different color areas where they meet. For this reason, most kilims can be classed as "slit woven" textiles. The slits are beloved by collectors, as they produce very sharp-etched designs, emphasizing the geometry of the weave. Weaving strategies for avoiding slit formation, such as interlocking, produce a more blurred design image.[5]

The weft strands, which carry the visible design and color, are almost always wool, whereas the hidden warp strands can be either wool or cotton. The warp strands are only visible at the ends, where they emerge as the fringe. This fringe is usually tied in bunches, to ensure against loosening or unraveling of the weave.[5]

Motifs

Main article: Kilim motifs
Detail of a Turkish kilim, illustrating usage of several kilim motifs

Many motifs are used in Turkish kilims, each with many variations. A few examples are illustrated here, with meanings as described by Güran Erbek in Kilim.[6] A widely used motif is the elibelinde, a stylized female figure, motherhood and fertility.[7] Other motifs express the tribal weavers' desires for protection of their families' flocks from wolves with the wolf's mouth or the wolf's foot motif (Turkish: Kurt Aǧzi, Kurt İzi), or for safety from the sting of the scorpion (Turkish: Akrep). Several motifs hope for the safety of the weaver's family from the evil eye (Turkish: Nazarlık, also used as a motif), which could be divided into four with a cross symbol (Turkish: Haç), or averted with the symbol of a hook (Turkish: Çengel), a human eye (Turkish: Göz), or an amulet (Turkish: Muska; often, a triangular package containing a sacred verse).[6] Such an amulet woven into a rug is not a picture of the thing itself: it actually is an amulet, conferring protection by its presence.[8]


Other motifs symbolised fertility, as with the trousseau chest motif (Turkish: Sandıklı), or the explicit fertility (Turkish: Bereket) motif. The motif for running water (Turkish: Su Yolu) similarly depicts the resource literally. The desire to tie a family or lovers together could be depicted with a fetter motif (Turkish: Bukaǧı). Several other motifs represented the desire for good luck and happiness, as for instance the bird (Turkish: Kuş) and the star or Solomon's seal (Turkish: Yıldız). The oriental symbol of Yin/Yang is used for love and unison (Turkish: Aşk ve Birleşim).[6]

Rugs and commerce

Because kilims are often cheaper than pile rugs, beginning carpet collectors often start with them. Despite what many perceive as their secondary (or inferior) status to pile carpets, kilims have become increasingly collectible in themselves in recent years, with quality pieces now commanding high prices. What some sensed as inferiority was actually a different nature of rugs woven for indigenous use as opposed to rugs woven on a strictly commercial basis. Because kilims were not a major export commodity, there were no foreign market pressures changing the designs, as happened with pile carpets. Once collectors began to value authentic village weaving, kilims became popular. Three factors then combined to reduce the quality of the West's newly-discovered kilims. The first was a development in industrial chemistry. An important element in the attractiveness of traditional rugs is abrash, the dappled appearance resulting from variation in shade of each colour caused by hand-dyeing of the yarn. The synthetic (aniline-derived) dyes introduced late in the Victorian era abolished abrash, giving brilliant colours which however often faded with time. A second factor was the loss of the nomadic way of life across Central Asia. Once people had settled, the tribal character of their weavings faded. A third factor was a direct consequence of the kilim's new-found marketability. As rugs began to be made for export and money rather than personal use, the local style and social significance of each type of carpet was lost. Patterns and colours were chosen to suit the market, rather than woven according to tradition and to suit the needs of the weaver's family and the weaver's own hopes and fears.[9][lower-alpha 1]

Types

Persian (Iranian)

A Shahsavan kilim (in Ardabil) with typical geometric symbols, some of mythological inspiration, such as the crab or scarab beetle
Gelim of Harsin in Kermanshah, Tarh-e-Aroosak (طرح عروسک, "Doll Design") Type

Balkans and Eastern Europe

Anatolian (Turkish)

Perhaps the best known and most highly regarded, these kilims (or kelims) are traditionally distinguished by the areas, villages or cities in which they are produced, such as Konya, Malatya, Karapinar and Hotamis. Most Anatolian kilims are slit woven. Larger antique kilims were woven in two to three separate sections on small nomadic horizontal floor looms in three feet wide long strips, then carefully sewn together matching the patterns edges to create an ultimately wider rug. These pieces are still being produced in very limited quantities by nomadic tribes for their personal use and are commonly known as cicims.

Notes

  1. ↑ Jon Thompson writes "In terms of carpet weaving we are observers of the very end of an ancient art form."[9]

References

  1. ↑ Digard, Jean-Pierre; Bier, Carol (1996). Carpets v. Flat-woven carpets: Techniques and structures (Online ed.). Encyclopedia Iranica.
  2. ↑ "Kilim". American Heritage Dictionary.
  3. ↑ Hawley, Walter A. Oriental Rugs Antique & Modern. (1913). Reprint (1970): Dover Publications, New York, N.Y., p. 278.
  4. ↑ "Carpets v. Flat-woven carpets: Techniques and structures", Encyclopædia Iranica
  5. 1 2 Davies, 2000
  6. 1 2 3 Erbek, Güran (1998). Kilim Catalogue No. 1. May Selçuk A. S. Edition=1st.
  7. ↑ "Hands on Hips - Elibelinde". Retrieved 24 February 2014.
  8. ↑ Thompson, Jon (1988). Carpets from the Tents, Cottages and Workshops of Asia. Barrie & Jenkins. p. 156. ISBN 0-7126-2501-1.
  9. 1 2 Thompson, Jon (1988). Carpets from the Tents, Cottages and Workshops of Asia. Barrie & Jenkins. pp. 62, 69–82, 84–97. ISBN 0-7126-2501-1.

Sources

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External links

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