When weaving began in India it was with Persian weavers reputedly imported by Akbar, with the consent of Shah Abbas of Persia, who was his contemporary. The weaving was centred on Agra and Lahore, and, as may be surmised, the designs had a distinctly Persian flavour about them. Later, while retaining some Persian influence, Indian designers developed their own ideas, the result being a pleasing contrast between the two schools of design.

Early examples from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries cannot be readily identified as coming from a particular place, and the general tendency is to call any Indian of that period either an Agra or Indo-Persian. There is, in London, however, one Indian carpet, fully documented and known to have been made in the Royal Factory at Lahore. It is in the possession of the Worshipful Company of Girdlers in the city of London, and it was presented to them by Robert Bell, Master of the Company, at the expiry of his second term of office in 1634.

The minutes of the Girdlers Company of 12 August 1634 read: ‘Also, at this Court, Mr. Robert Bell did present a very faire long Turkey Carpitt, with the Company’s Arms thereon, which he freely gave to the use of this Company as a remembrance of his love.’

The carpet, 24 ft x 7 ft 6 inch, was made to lay on the original Court Room table of the Girdlers Company, which was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666; the design incorporates the Coat of Arms of the Company, two panels bearing Robert Bell’s initials, and at each end of the field, Bell’s Coat of Arms.

Robert Bell was a prominent member of the East India Company from the time of its foundation in 1600, and a rather long entry is given in the minutes of this Company for 2 April 1634 to the carpet, which it states was made in Lahore. The reason for the entry is because there was a dispute about payment. It appears that the Company was charged with the cost of manufacture and endeavoured to recover the money from Bell. He stated that he had already settled the account personally. The dispute was never resolved, and later in the same year the directors of the East India Company apparently allowed the matter to drop. The interesting thing about this particular carpet is that here is a ‘Turkey Carpitt’, of Persian design and knotting, undoubtedly made in India. The reference to Turkey is understood when we realize that all Oriental carpets entering England at that time, no matter where they were made, were referred to as such.

Some rather heavy pile Indian carpets come on to the market as Mail’ carpets. It is known that in the last century prisoners, particularly at Agra and Jaipur, were given the task of making extremely tough carpets, and the story goes that good weavers were resentenced at the end of their term, on any pretext that could be found, in order to finish the job they were on.

Since those days, India has remained a carpet producing country, and even today some pieces of excellent quality are made there.

The sub-continent is now split of course, but for the purposes of this volume, the products of Pakistan and Kashmir will be discussed under the heading of India. The former country now makes very finely-knotted rugs, chemically washed, many of them with Turkoman designs and colours. Kashmir has been a producing country for many years, and in addition to the embroideries for which it is justly famous  some exceedingly finely woven pieces have been made there.

The example shown here is in the possession of the author, and it was reputedly made about sixty years ago. Because of the fine knotting, it could only have been made by a child, as it is impossible to imagine such dexterity from adult fingers. Woven on silk warps, with a small amount of silk in the wool pile, the knotting is between fifty and fifty-two per inch each way. This makes about 2600 knots to the square inch, and it is undoubtedly one of the finest knotted examples ever seen. The design is a perfect reproduction, in miniature, of a sixteenth-century Isfahan carpet and, although measuring only 4 ft 3 inch X 1 ft 10 inch, it contains as many knots as an average Oriental carpet twenty times the size. In point of fact this carpet is a miniature reproduction in the real sense of the word, for it was what could best be termed a scaled-down reproduction, knot for knot, of an original.

An interesting sidelight is that this particular rug was exhibited by Messrs Perez, of London, at an exhibition of European and Oriental Carpets at the Royal Water Colour Society’s Galleries, London, in 1946. The rug was displayed in a glass cabinet with miniature furniture placed on it, the latter having been made by disabled ex-servicemen of the Star and Garter Home, Richmond, in aid of whom the exhibition had been promoted. The glass cabinet was not quite long enough for the rug to lie flat, and it was therefore curled over at one end. On visiting the exhibition, Her late Majesty Queen Mary suggested that a magnifying glass should be provided, as the knotting was so fine that it could not be seen properly with the naked eye.

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]]> http://www.coveringrugs.com/indian-rugs-and-carpets/feed/ 0 http://www.coveringrugs.com/china-carpets-and-rugs/ http://www.coveringrugs.com/china-carpets-and-rugs/#comments Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:21:20 +0000 irfan http://www.coveringrugs.com/?p=93 The earliest Chinese carpets known are from the seventeenth century. This suggests that the Chinese were late starters in the textile field, but it is inconceivable that this country, so advanced in other arts and crafts, should have been behind in this technique which was so prevalent in other parts of the Orient. According to the records, the custom of using carpets as furnishings began as early as 1122 BC, but of course this has never been substantiated by even the smallest practical example. In this context we are, of course, speaking of China proper. Elsewhere in this website it will be seen that the earliest known knotted rug was found near the Outer Mongolian border, but this is attributed to Persia and not to China. Certainly Chinese motifs found their way into the early rugs of Turkey and the Caucasus, which also suggests that this vast country was participating in the craft much earlier than is supposed.

The main centre of production in the nineteenth century appears to have been Pekin, and even today we can find carpets which are attributed to this city. Completely Chinese in character, many with a blue ground colour, they are very different from the modern Chinese product. Exporting carpets from China only started in 1850 and since then the product has undergone many changes to satisfy the appetite of the West. Production is now centred in Tientsin where, since the nineteen-twenties, a fine yarn, high pile carpet has been made which necessitates chemical washing, and the magnificent silky sheen and carved effect gives a most luxurious appearance to this latest development in Oriental art. A further innovation, made in Hong Kong, is a kind of tufted carpet with a latexed backing. As this is not a traditional weave, such products have not been considered in this volume.

Carpets have appeared which are classified as Sinkiang and Ningsia, but these are from areas which could be considered to belong more to Eastern Turkestan than to China, as also would the carpets of Tibet.

One type of knotted rug from China must be mentioned here, as it does not appear in any other country. This is the Pillar rug, made long and very narrow, to surround pillars. This is so skilfully executed that when the rug has been wound spirally around a pillar, the design, hitherto piecemeal, suddenly becomes a coherent whole.

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This country, which shares with Peru, Turkestan and Siberia a climate which can preserve textiles almost indefinitely, has never revealed knotted pile fabrics of earlier date than about the fourth century AD. These are not, however, of the right weave to be classified as Oriental rugs, as the knotting is rather coarse and the pile consists of uncut loops. Some authorities claim that the pile was cut, but as many pieces still contain a looped pile it is a fair contention that it was wear rather than the weavers’ shears which made the separation. They resemble Turkish towels in appearance. Specimens can be seen in a number of museums featuring Egyptian art.

Carpets are mentioned as having been used in Court circles in the twelfth century, but we do not know if they were made in Egypt or even if they were knotted. In the Mameluke period, however, carpets were actually made in Cairo, and the art of manufacture stemmed from Persia and not Turkey, as the knotting used is Persian.

Unfortunately these pieces, of which there are a number in various museums, have tended to be attributed to Damascus, which is totally wrong, because there is no evidence that carpets were ever made in Syria. The explanation may be that there is some resemblance between the effect of the peculiar designs and colours of these pieces, and damask, a cloth also used in that period, particularly in Venice from where it was exported to the rest of Europe.

Always geometric in design, these Cairo or Mameluke pieces have neither forerunners nor copiers. They appear to have been made only during the period up until the conquest which brought Egypt under the Ottoman Empire in 1517. From then onwards a change of style set in, due no doubt to the demands of the Turkish Court, as the new style, while following the old weaving techniques, featured designs somewhat akin to the Persian Court manufacture, that is, properly proportioned pieces, with corner pieces matching the medallion; but they lacked the overall grandeur of the Persian examples owing to the inferior draftsmanship employed.

What kind of carpets Cardinal Wolsey got in reply to his demand for ‘Damascene’ carpets will never be known. In June 1518 he asked the Venetian Ambassador for some pieces, in return for which he would ‘take him before the Council and obtain audience for his arguments in regard to the repeal of the duties of Candian wines imported into England by the Venetian traders’. At the end of that year he got seven pieces. His next demand, still with the repeal of the wine duties. contingent upon it, was for a hundred ‘Damascene’ carpets. This was in 1519. We do not know if he received them all, but we do know that sixty carpets arrived for him from Antwerp, which he graciously accepted. As with all the other producing countries a decline set in, but much earlier than with the others, as from the seventeenth century nothing more is heard of Egyptian carpets, and there was no revival in the nineteenth century.

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It was inevitable that the Italian painters should be the most prolific portrayers of the rug, because it was through Venice that the European trade started, not only in carpets but in all other artistic products from the East. It is, however, the name of Holbein the Younger which lives on in rug lore, to describe the type of design frequently used by that artist. The term ‘Holbein Oushak’ describes any Oushak rug with a so-called ‘Holbein’ design, although some of the designs attributed to him were painted by other artists.

Spain also imported rugs from Turkey at a very early stage, probably through her Moorish connections. The Spaniards not only imported them but started to weave for themselves, the earliest surviving examples being very Turkish in character. These date from the fifteenth century. What kind of carpets Queen Eleanor of Castile took to England in the thirteenth century can only be conjectured. Most probably they were Turkish, or possibly Spanish.

Although the earliest pieces attributed to Turkey were very angular in design, by the sixteenth century a considerable element of curvilinear draughtsmanship appeared, and rounded forms with central medallion designs can be found in the products of Oushak. Undoubtedly this was due to the importation of Persian weavers and other workers into Turkey, especially after the military successes of the Turks in Persia during the first half of the century. Oushak appears to have been the centre of the craft, and some of the designs produced in those days are classified into categories of Oushak. For instance, there is the Holbein Oushak, the Star, the Bird and the Medallion Oushaks.

More in keeping with what we regard as Persian design and influence are the carpets now referred to as of Turkish court manufacture. These were almost certainly made by Persian craftsmen. Where they were made is not known, but the claims of Oushak are very strong.

It is known that the Star Oushak carpet arrived in England in the sixteenth century, for there are four carpets in the possession of the Duke of Buccleuch which were made in England to the order of his ancestor Sir Edward Montagu (1532-1602) and three of which are of typical Star Oushak design. Many authorities claim that these pieces are of actual Turkish manufacture, but the foundation threads of hemp or flax (not used in the Oriental product) and the fact that they have initials inconspicuously woven into various parts of the borders and field (for example, E.B. and A.N. each occur in two carpets), together with the dates 1584 and 1585 on two pieces, leave little doubt that this series was made in England. It is fairly certain, too, that they were copied from Turkish originals, with some variation in the borders to accommodate the arms of Sir Edward Montagu on each side and at the ends.

One other type of Oushak carpet must not be left out, although this brings us into the last century. The Yaprak design carpet, beloved of Victorian households and hotels, and variously called the Red and Blue Turkey, or just the Turkey carpet, was a commercial venture of the late nineteenth century, and indeed continued well into the twentieth. Thick piled, with a silky appearance, these carpets not only looked solid and trustworthy, events have shown that they really were solid and hard-wearing. Unfortunately they were copied profusely in inferior makes, but the genuine Yaprak Oushak was a good commercial proposition, and a fine trade with England existed at the turn of the century.

Historically, Asia Minor made a big contribution to the rug world, but apart from the prayer rugs and the Oushak weaves nothing much remains, until the nineteenth century when the Hereke Court woven carpet made its appearance. Later in the century, when commercial ventures saw the possibilities of supplying Europe and America in bulk with standard sizes and designs, made specially to furnish rooms in these continents, the town of Izmir, or Smyrna, became important as a distributing centre. Carpets and rugs were supplied in large quantities to the furnishing houses of the west, and it is from here that the Yapraks were shipped, along with carpets with Europeanized designs not the true French style, but specially designed for the European market in soft pastel shades. These were called Sparta, and were made in various districts not far away from Smyrna (notably Isparta, from where the carpet takes its name). Various qualities were made, and they became very popular, particularly in England.

Later, at the end of the nineteenth century, a Greek version, made near Athens, was marketed. The other contribution to the craft from Turkey is of course the Kumkapu, but apart from these few innovations, Turkey must rest on its sixteenth- to early eighteenth-century laurels in the world of the rug.

Another oracle thereupon declared that whoever could untie the knot would eventually reign over Asia. Alexander severed the knot with his sword, and the kingdom went to him.

Rugs and carpets other than the prayer version were made in Ghiordes and other places in the Islamic world, but as this chapter is concerned only with namazlyks, other types will be dealt with separately under their respective chapter headings. One exception must, however, be mentioned here and that is the double prayer rug, with a kind of mihrab at each end.

It is not suggested that these rugs were used exclusively for the purposes of prayer, but no doubt they could be used in this manner. The type referred to is known as Kiz-Ghiordes. The word Kiz means ‘maiden’, and rugs of this type were made from the end of the eighteenth century by young girls either in harems or as part of a girl’s dowry on marriage or as a means of displaying her skill as a weaver to her prospective bridegroom. Very finely woven, these pieces come in a rather smaller size than that of the conventional prayer rug.

The best known and most sought after type of Ghiordes prayer rug is the Basra, made from the beginning as we know it (say the beginning of the seventeenth century) until the middle of the eighteenth century. It has been suggested that this name derives from the district of that name, now in Iraq, where possession of such pieces became the fashion amongst high-ranking Moslems. Much more positive evidence is required to confirm such a belief, but it does sound at least feasible. A peculiarity of the Basra weave is that when seen from the back, the weft shoots appear to be of short length, and are tied to each other in such a way that there is a zig-zag line up the length of the piece.

Konia This, the capital city of the Seljuki Turks, the ancient city of Iconium, is one of the several centres in Turkey, where the famous Whirling Dervishes perform their practices and is credited with the earliest preserved examples of rugs dating from the thirteenth century. These examples are not designed as prayer rugs as we know them, although they were found in the Mosque of Ala-ad-Din in Konia. They are now in the Museum of Islamic Art, Istanbul. Other pieces of the same period were found in the Eshrefiglu Mosque at Beyshehir, some distance away from Konia, but all these have been grouped together under the general title of Konia, even though they may not have been made there.

The Konia rugs in the various collections throughout the world stem from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, after which, in common with all other forms of Turkish art, a decline set in from which the craft has never recovered.

Oushak Although a great centre for the making of rugs and carpets in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, this town is more widely known for its large pieces than for individual prayer rugs. Many of the carpets of large size were made specially for Mosque use, and although most of them were of simple designs many Saphs, or communal prayer carpets, wrere made, with numerous mihrabs. The Oushak designs often bear some signs of Persian influence, and it is supposed that many of the craftsmen were indeed Persian.

Ladik The prayer rugs from this town, the ancient city of Laodicea, reached the peak of weaving excellence at the end of the seventeenth century and beginning of the eighteenth. Easily recognizable, early Ladiks are invariably constructed with a kind of triple mihrab, but the distinguishing feature is the row of tulips above the mihrab. No rug other than a prayer rug has yet been classed as Ladik, which seems to suggest that the production was primarily of this type.

Koula Not very far from Ghiordes lies this small city where a disinctive type of prayer rug was made from the seventeenth century until the general decline of the craft in Turkey.

Something akin to the Ghiordes in weave, Koulas generally seem to our eyes to be lacking in lively colour, particularly the type known as Mezarli or tomb rug, supposedly used at funerals, which is distinctive because the centre field is filled with designs bearing a resemblance to cypress trees. The normal early Koula prayer rug is prefixed Kafali and although there are further divisions Direkli, Komurju and Sinekli it is only the former that commands our attention for the purposes of this website.

Transylvanian, or Siebenbilrger There is some doubt as to where this particular type of rug was produced, but it is generally accepted that it was in the district of Oushak. Sometimes with one prayer niche, but mainly seen with a mihrab at each end, these rugs were found in profusion in the churches of Transylvania (now part of Roumania). Various theories have been advanced as to why these particular rugs should have been discovered in such quantities in this area, although they were not confined exclusively to it.

A feasible solution appears to be that they were gifts, given as a gesture of friendship or for propaganda purposes by the Military Governor of the Transylvanian district after the Balkan invasion by the Turks.

Another tenable theory that has been advanced is that at the time when the Ottoman Empire had spread its tentacles to cover the whole of South-Eastern Europe, for some inexplicable reason the Turkish authorities allowed the people of what was then Transylvania to continue to follow their Christian religion. The people of this area were great traders, and often, with the permission of the authorities, made trading journeys into Asia Minor. These journeys were fraught with innumerable hazards, not only of weather and inhospitable country, but also because of bandits and bands of marauding soldiers. Those fortunate travellers who safely ran the gauntlet both ways formed the habit of showing their gratitude to God for their preservation by making a present of the most valuable object they had brought back from their expedition, and this frequently took the form of a rug. So many of these rugs were found in the churches of Transylvania that the rug trade used that name to classify them.

It is said that the altar of the Black Church in Brasov was covered with rugs. It is estimated that about two thousand rugs were distributed. At the end of the nineteenth century some of these rugs found their way on to the market from Transylvania, and it was at this point that investigation showed that they were definitely of Anatolian origin. When found today, Transylvanian rugs are normally in extremely good condition, due, no doubt, to the fact they were never put to practical use but were used only to cover the altars of the churches.

Melas Prayer rugs have been made for centuries in the area of this small town in South-West Anatolia. It has been suggested that the so-called Transylvanian rugs originated here, but this has never been substantiated. As with the Ladik rugs, Melas are almost invariably found with prayer design.

Megri Not far south of Melas, on the coast opposite the island of Rhodes, is the little town of Megri. Prayer rugs from this area are often known as ‘Rhodes’ rugs, but there is no evidence to suppose that any were ever made on the island. Mainly eighteenth and nineteenth century examples are to be found. One particular type, while being of the normal prayer rug size, has two mihrabs, side by side, each obviously very narrow. This type is called the ‘Brothers rug’, presumably because it could be used by two persons but they must have been very thin if they were able to use the rug at the same time!

Broussa From this city famous for its velvets come brightly coloured, but finely woven silk prayer rugs. They appear to be a product of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with an eye for export markets, but they are none the less very beautiful.

There are other names associated with the prayer rugs of Anatolia, but as none has contributed to the development or knowledge of the craft only small mention need be made of them here to complete the picture as far as Turkey is concerned. The Yuruk rugs were produced by a tribe inhabiting the eastern part of Anatolia. Mudjur and Kirshehir (those from the latter also being known as ‘Sultan’ rugs), together with the twentieth century Pandemia, account for practically all the better known names.

It is felt that any further breaking down may become confusing, and in fact some of the other names encountered are merely traders’ definitions denoting qualities in the bazaars of Istanbul.