ETERNAL VALUES
Tatar Carpet - Kelem
They are made in the palas and kelems techniques on horizontal looms , have a woolen or linen base , sometimes using twisted cotton textiles as a weft . The palases are decorated with large diamondshaped patterns . They fascinate with a complex colour scheme , which gives the impression of an old richly nuanced painting ( most likely , this is the result of long-term storage ). Blurry rosettes , stepped rhombuses create a mosaic surface . The main rhythmical motif , due to the variability of the details , gives the impression of a whole pattern . Colours are green-blue , grey-blue , light green , yellow , pink-brown and are close to the range of traditional buildings in Khorezm and Central Asia . The region of distribution is the spiritual centres of the former Volga Bulgaria : Cheremshan , Bilyar- Bulgar , the land of Alkey .
Palases without an edge could be endlessly sewn together and decorated huge symbolic spaces ( a mosque in the village of Urgagary , Alkeevsky district ). They were also used as a namazlyk ( prayer rug ). Some modern carpets of one or more telems in the asalapsugu technique are connected with the previous ones . These modern carpets are decorated with large triangles ( baskychlap ) and ledges ( kirteklap ), sometimes large rhombuses ( podnoslap , gollap ), checkered pattern ( shakmaklap ).
Another type of item is yapma bedcovers , two meters long , made of two ornamented pieces and 55 cm wide . A more concentrated composition of the pattern is created in contrast with the background of black , brown and cherry tones . Rhombuses are less stepping , compressed , or extended upward under longitudinal columns . This is the ornament in the form of 6 cut rhombuses , laid in 5-7 rows or layers . Yarn is thinner ; wool is elastic with a sloping twist . Palette consists of 5-12 colours . Finally , there is a variety of kelems with a characteristic ornamental system , where the field of the item is framed by a border that makes up a single whole with it . Kelems , decorating the walls , apparently were not used early . In the regions of Kazan and Zakazanya , they were replaced by Asian carpets , but were still widespread in the periphery , where Islam penetrated more slowly .
The oldest Tatar carpets ( palases ), while remaining coarser and less graceful , were close to Altai woolen fabrics such as palase and kilim ( kelem ), described by S . I . Rudenko 3 . Yapma with columns and rhombuses in the ornament are consonant with the ancient Altai saddle cloth4 from the Pazyryk mound with a pattern of squares with white columns and a row of triangles . Monumentally considered in the form of interpenetrating planes ,
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