ANTIQUE CARPETS
Terry Pile Carpet . Kursk province , Staro-Oskol district , villages Korodkovo . Last third of the XIX century RME , col . 728-117
Brocade / Broschiertechnik ( elective technique , weft lay ), which were popular among craftswomen in various carpet weaving centres in the region .
Central Asian carpet collections are extremely diverse . They include objects that are a part of the living space : challah and gilem bedding carpets , namazlyks , a complex of carpet decoration of a yurt ( engsi carpet curtains that close the door , the entrance from the inside was decorated with a kapunuk lambrequin , mafrach bags for storing various things size , chuval-torba hung from the walls of the yurt ). All these items demonstrated the common and the different in the carpet weaving of the Karakalpaks , Kyrgyz , Uzbeks , Turkmen , and Central Asian Arabs .
An artistic example of Turkmen-Ersari carpet weaving is the namazlyk prayer carpet of the XVIII century ( RME , col . 26-61 ). Its warp and weft are
@ ethnomuseum woolen , knitting density 1260 knots per dm2 , pile height is 6 mm . The number of colours reaches ten : three shades of red , two shades of blue , light yellow , orange-yellow , dark brown , blue-green , green . The rectangular central ivory field , woven with a multicoloured plant pattern , presented a picture of blossoming abundance . A pointed arch-mihrab ends with three pairs of horn-like curls / horns of gochak with small eight-pointed rosettes of charh-palak ( Turkm . “ a wheel for raising water ”) expressing the idea of perpetual motion . A wide red border with flowers completes the composition . The abundance and variety of floral ornamentation is a characteristic feature of the artistic style of the Turkmens of the middle river Amu-Darya . In the Central Asian collection , there is a group of small longpiled bedding carpets dzhulkhirs (“ bear skin ”) from Uzbeks of Samarkand and Syrdarya regions , demonstrating traditions and use of such items for a hundred years ( 1880-1980s ). The height of the dzhulkhirs pile reached 15-20 mm , which is exceptional for the region . The technique used by Uzbeks was significantly different from the technique of carpet weaving of neighboring peoples . The pile of the dzhulkhirs was knitted with a symmetrical knot only on upper rows and as a result the pattern from the inside was not visible . The craftswoman weaved several paths on a narrow warp loom , which then were sewed together along their length . The width of the tracks was strictly linked to the composition of the carpet pattern , so the stitches hidden by the thick pile was invisible . The pile threads were cut only with a knife ( not scissors ) and that is why the surface of the carpet was uneven , creating a play of light and shadow .
Collections from East Turkestan are represented by pile bedding carpets and namazlyks ( prayer carpets ) of the turn of the XIX-XX centuries . The decor of these items organically combines a variety of subjects and symbols ( symbols of Buddhist and Islamic origin , Chinese symbols of water , mountains and clouds ), which gives these items a unique originality .
26 C A R P E T DECEMBER ’ 21