Knotted pile rug from eastern Anatolia
Object No. 85/1902
This knotted pile rug was woven by a nomadic Yürük woman and is an excellent example of the weaving of the Kurdish tribes of Eastern Anatolia. Yürük means 'mountain nomad' and comes from the Turkish word yürümek, meaning 'to walk'. The term is regularly used in reference to Turkish rugs, although the Yürük are scattered from east to west across Turkey and are of varied ethnic composition. Those in the east are largely of Kurdish and Turkic stock. While it is often difficult to attribute rugs with confidence to particular places or even regions, the rugs of Eastern Anatolia and the neighbouring southwestern Caucasus share common elements in design and character. This rug exhibits the technical and structural characteristics of Yürük or Kurdish rugs from Eastern Anatolia as well as a variation on the composition of certain Kazak rugs, known as Karachov, from the southern Caucasus. The arrangement of the field medallions, the border pattern, the long lustrous pile and glowing colours provide an immediately recognizable link with Karachov rugs. However, given that designs tend to be copied or used by a range of groups over time and space, while weaving techniques remain much more localised among traditional weavers, we can with assurance say that this piece is woven in eastern Anatolia in the region of Kagizman village. Pamela Leuzinger, Research Assistant, Curatorial Design & Society, 2009 Christina Sumner, Principal Curator, Design and Society, Powerhouse Museum, 2011
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Summary
Object Statement
Rug, knotted pile, wool, hand woven by a Yürük woman, Kagizman village, Eastern Anatolia (Turkey), c.1860
Physical Description
A rectangular knotted wool pile rug on a natural wool warp. The rug is densely patterned with a variety ol geometric, star and stylised floral motifs, including a large central geometric medallion and four rectangular corner motifs each of which contains nine stars, in red, white, green and blue on a dark brown field. The predominantly white and red main border is decorated with a reciprocal serrated leaf and calyx design and the red guard stripes contain a chain of small diamonds. Plain weave (kilim) strips close each end of the rug and the warp ends are interwoven to form a firm braided edge.
DIMENSIONS
Width
1180 mm
PRODUCTION
Notes
This rug was made by one or more Yürük women of Kagizman (pronounced Karsman) village in Eastern Anatolia around 1860. The word Yürük is derived from the Turkish 'yurumek' meaning 'to walk'. The Yürük are the nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes of Turkey who are thought to have Turkmen origins, even though they speak Kurdish, which is an Indo-European language. Kagizman is a village not far from the Soviet border in eastern Anatolia.. The design of this Turkish rug is a variation on the composition of certain Kazak rugs (known as Karachov) from the southern Caucasus. Structurally however it exhibits typical characteristics of Yörük.or Kurdish rugs from eastern Anatolia. The wool pile lies flat on the surface, the ends are flat woven with supplementary weft patterning, and the warp ends are braided. The Yürük, the nomads of Turkey, are scattered from east to west across the country and are of varied ethnic composition. Those in the east are largely of Kurdish and Turkic stock. The rug was hand-knotted, using symmetrical or Turkish knots in coloured wools on a warp of two-ply natural wool, with two or three shots of brown and blue single ply weft between each row of knots. Plain weave (kilim) strips at each end of the rug are decorated with supplementary weft patterning. The warp ends are interwoven to one side forming a firm braided edge which is finished with a plait and the selvedges are oversown decoratively using assorted coloured wools.
HISTORY
Notes
The rug was purchased from Ross and Irene Langlands of Nomadic Rug Traders in Pyrmont in April 1985. It was displayed in the Powerhouse Museum exhibition 'Pathways through Paradise' in 2004.
SOURCE
Credit Line
Purchased 1985
Acquisition Date
25 September 1985
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