Turkish carpet

Turkish carpets come in distinct styles, from different regions of Turkey. Important differentiators between the types include the materials, construction and the patterns.

Materials for Turkish carpets

Wool on Wool (wool pile and wool warps and wefts): This is generally the least expensive type of carpet, but often the most "authentic" if such a word can be used. Wool on wool carpets have been made much longer and use more traditional designs than the other types of carpets. Because wool cannot be spun finely, the knot count is often not very high, compared to wool on cotton and silk on silk. High knot count is also not necessary for wool on wool carpets because they are often traditional geometric designs, or otherwise non-intricate patterns.

Wool on cotton (wool pile on cotton warps and wefts): This type of carpet can be much more intricate than wool on wool carpets because cotton can be spun finely and the knot count is generally much higher. In wool on cotton rugs, floral designs etc. are also found, in addition to the geometric patterns.

Silk on Silk (silk pile on silk warps and wefts): This is the most intricate type of carpet with very fine weave. Knot count for silk carpets intended for floor coverings should be no greater than 100 knots per square cm, or 10 X 10 cm² and can be as fine as 28 X 28 knots/cm². Any carpet woven with the knot count greater than 10 X 10 knots/cm² should only be used as a wall or pillow tapestry. These very fine, intricately woven carpets are no larger than 3m X 3m and are stunningly beautiful.

Interior Designing Tips:

Here they are,

If you have light rooms, with slighly modern furniture, do not use these rugs. The rugs will collide and mix with the room. It will have an ugly sense.

Dont put in any Kitchens, Bedrooms, or Bathrooms.

Carpets by Regions

*Bergama carpet
*Ushak carpet
*Milas carpet
*Hereke carpets are woven in the town of Hereke, just southsoutheast of Istanbul. The carpets woven in Hereke are very rare, and reside today in palaces and castles in Anatolia as well as Europe. In the late 1800s, the Turkish government sought out the most skilled carpet weavers of Anatolia and Persia and gave exclusive invitations to become residences of the town of Hereke. These Hereke carpet weavers quickly became known as the weavers of the finest carpets in the world. The actual number of Hereke carpets produced in the last 120 years is relatively small. They are quite valuable and strongly sought after.

Hereke carpets typically are very large, palace size carpets, and are constructed with wool on cotton, camel hair on cotton, silk on cotton as well as silk on silk. The precision of their double knots as well as the range of color and design detail make them breathtaking artistic works. The patterns woven can be of Anatolian motifs or European motifs depending on the final destination of the commission. Many of the Hereke carpets can be identified by the weavers personal Hereke signature in a corner of the finished piece. This signature "H" helps authenticate the carpet as an original Hereke masterpiece.

Today, there is no longer a society of carpet weavers in Hereke and those fortunate enough to have acquired a Hereke original will treasure their acquisition for generations to come.

Characteristics of Turkish carpet

Natural dyes

Carpets can be made with or chemical dyes. With wool on wool and wool on cotton carpets, natural dyes are preferable. Natural dyes do not bleed when it gets wet and when you wash the carpet. This can be very important, especially when you are buying a carpet with white in it, because other colours will bleed into the white and make it look very ugly. There are a couple tests that you can do on the carpet to test whether they use chemical or natural dyes. The first is to have a fairly damp white cloth and rub it against the carpet. If the colour is natural dye then only fibres will come out, and that will be the only colour that leaves the carpet, while if chemical dyes are used, colour will actually bleed into the whiteness of the cloth, as well as little pieces of wool coming off. Natural dyes are more expensive than chemical ones and the price of the carpet will thus be higher. Remember to do this test on each colour of the rug, especially if you are doubting the authenticity of the natural dyes, because its possible that some colours in the rug are natural, others chemical.

Another way to tell if a carpet is natural or chemical dyes, is how it fades. This is especially noticeable if the carpet has been out in the sun for any extended periods of time. You open up the carpet to see the bottom of the thread, often by bending the carpet in half, or just opening it up with your fingers. If the thread near the bottom of the knot is a different shade of colour than the top of the thread, it is a chemical dye.

Silk carpets are almost always made chemical dyes.

Dead or live wool

This is plain and simple, dead wool is cut after the sheep has died, and the wool is harsh and rough because it has lost its natural oils. Live wool is sheared when the sheep is alive, and retains the natural oils. Most Turkish Carpets are made of live wool because it is finer and not as rough.

Handspun or machine spun weave

This is only applicable to wool on wool carpets. Machine spun wool is much tighter spun than handspun, one would think this is a good thing but because its much tighter, and wool is not very strong, many of the wool fibres snap while they do this, which limits the lifetime of the carpet. Handspun increases the hours of labour and the price accordingly, but it is not spun as tightly as machine spun so the lifetime of the carpet is longer. Now how to tell whether your rug is handspun or machine spun. The only way to do this is to flip the carpet over and look at the weave. If all the little squares are exactly the same size, then its machine spun. If there are size differences in the squares then it is handspun. It is very difficult to find handspun carpets, especially in the big cities.

ee also

*Kilim
*Persian rug

External links

* [http://www.turkishembassy.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=315&Itemid=332 Turkish embassy page on carpets]
* [http://www.about-turkey.com/carpet/ Site with extensive links on history, technology and regions of Turkish carpets]
* [http://www.internetrugs.com/blog/turkish-rugs-the-dobag-project/ Turkish Rugs: The DOBAG Project]
* [http://www.oldturkishcarpets.com/ Old Turkish Carpets, Rugs Etc...]
* [http://www.grandbazaaristanbul.org Grand Bazaar, Istanbul]