Animal-figures carpet late 15th century exhibited at the Carpet Museum, Istanbul
HISTORY
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Animal-figures carpet late 15th century exhibited at the Carpet Museum, Istanbul |
Private collectors, distinguished families and museums are proud owners of antique carpets. The richest collections of antique, knotted handmade carpets are found in the Istanbul Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts, the Vakıf Carpet Museum in the Blue Mosque, and the Konya Mevlana Museum. The museums and collectors of Europe and the USA own some exquisite pieces, most of which have been exported from Turkey. During the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, handmade Turkish carpets were prized possessions of the noble and wealthy families of Europe. Surviving carpets of this era, are now on display in museums. For the last century or more, handmade knotted carpets have been a subject of research fof. experts and art historians. Great numbers of books and journals have been published on the subject, showing that the making of handmade carpets is an important art form. The spread of knowledge through such publications has caused an increased demand for fine carpets. |
Carpets are produced in an area
extending from the Mediterranean coast of Turkey to the steppes of Central Asia,
and authorities conclude that the art of weaving knotted carpets, was introduced
by Turkish nomadic tribes and craftsmen. Traditional Turkish carpet making with
its distinctive techniques, materials, patterns and knotting, has had a strong
influence upon all oriental carpets. In art history books, one comes across
carpets that date back to the Pharaohs, the ancient Persians and the Caliphs.
However , these were not knotted carpets, but were rugs woven using the simple
''towel'' technique.
The hard-wearing, double-knotted carpets are the invention of Turkish tribes. The techniques used in handmade carpets were brought to the Mediter- ranean coast by the Seljuks in the 12th century .Marco Polo mentions rich displays of carpets in palaces and mosques. The demand for carpets in different periods dictated the pace of the development of carpet weaving, but high quality handmade carpets have always found a ready market
Textile products are not resistant to destruction by nature. The oldest carpet known was discovered, frozen in ice, by Russian archaeologists in 1984, and it is called the ''Pazırık'' carpet. This carpet, which measures 1.80 rn by 2 rn., is dated to the 4th-lst centuries B.C. and is on exhibit in the Hermitage in St.Petersburg (Leningrad). The ''Pazırık'' carpet is tightly knoted, and therefore indicates that the art of carpet weaving had emerged long before its production. Discovered in the mausoleum of the leader of a migratory tribe, who lived in the region and during the age of the Turkish Huns, the ''Pazirik'' carpet is an early and the sole example exhibiting the Turkish double knot. Not much is known of the progress of the art of knotted carpet weaving prior the Seljuk Turkish Empire (llth century A.D.)
Some of the pieces of carpets discovered in Turkmenistan,and dating to the 3rd-6th centuries A.D., are in museums.
