Azerbaijani carpet

File:Ganja rug trade.jpg

The rug trade in Ganja, Azerbaijan.

Carpet manufacturing in Ganja in early 20th century.

Azerbaijani rugs are a product of Azerbaijan, an ancient center of carpet weaving. Azerbaijan has been since the ancient times known as a center of a large variety of crafts. The archeological dig on the territory of Azerbaijan testifies to the well developed agriculture, stock raising, metal working, pottery and ceramics, and last but not least carpet-weaving that date as far back as to the 2nd millennium BC.

The most ancient carpet ever discovered is the famous Pazyryk carpet of the VI-V century BC which was found during the excavations in the Altai Mountains. The results of the archeological digging in Azerbaijan validate the antiquity of the carpet weaving traditions on this land. The Gultapin excavations discovered carpet weaving tools which date back to the IV-III millennium BC. For many centuries during the historical existence of our nation both settled and nomadic ways of life were of importance. A carpet per se is democratic, however its real folk character is about something else. A carpet was meant to unite people, to cultivate the sense of collectivism, mutual aid, and friendly cohesion. An Azerbaijani carpet, which embodies numerous and various functions, is in fact something more that just a combination of these purposes. An Azerbaijani carpet is not only one of the most important elements in the national way of life, not only a variety of the arts and crafts, but also a key link to the ethical and moral principles and customs of the people's existence.

The carpet making was born in rural huts and with time ranked among the most essential arts. It was highly valued by the heads of states, and the gifted weavers were glorified by the greatest poets. The carpet history is assumed to be divided into the following four main periods:

• I period - the early stage of the carpet development. The carpet ware is very simple, without any motifs and patterns. The first palas and djedjims appear.
• II period - introduction of the kilim weaving practice by the intricate threading technique.
• III period - weaving of shadda, verni, sumakh, zili. The period of simple and complex whipping techniques.
• IV period - introduction of the knotted pile weaving. Both from the technical and artistic standpoints this stage can be considered the acme of the carpet making.

The territory of the Southern and Northern Azerbaijan saw different states, religions and tribal cultures coming and going. There is always an inevitable mutual influence and penetration between the neighboring cultures, whether peaceful or militant. These processes were reflected in carpet making as well. Throughout Azerbaijan appeared numerous carpet production centers; each featured its own specific style and school. Our website will tell you about some of them.

Flat-weave carpets

Shedde

Shedde is a flat weave carpet, made primarily in Nakhichevan, Agdam, Gubadly, Agjabedi. The artistic composition of shedde made by complicated whipping, as well as its constituents have a complex form. Early in the 2oth century the oldest weavers and carpet experts called this type of carpets “shadra’ or “shatra”. The word “shedde” is a distorted form of “shatranj” and “shadvard”. Shedde comes in a number of varieties, each having a specific technique such as monochrome, checkered or subject. Monochrome shedde are made by the simple interweaving technique. Shedde with a checkered pattern is based on the palas and jejim principle. The same technique is used to make subject-based shedde. The subject shedde “Develi” are famous all over the world. They use practically one and the same subject with the composition being almost invariable: the camelcade moving along the carpet field from left to right, along a few horizontal rows, and each string running into a figure of a sarvan on foot. The humans and animals are set off against the dark-red field, its color is smooth and hot.

Verni

The most widely spread type of the flat-weave carpet is “verni”. Perhaps none of the flat-weave carpets can boast such a monumental pattern and harmonious clarity as the “verni” made only in Azerbaijan. The technical perfection and utmost emotionality of these carpets is a sort of acme of the Azerbaijani carpet art. Sample “verni” displayed in various museums throughout the world present the outstanding monument of the richest heritage of the Azerbaijani folk art in which we by right take pride. Among the “verni” centers were Agjabedi, Barda, Agdam, Nakhichevan. The key décor feature, which is intrinsical to every ”verni” is the S-element. Its shape varies, it may resemble both figure 5 and letter S. This element means “dragon” among the nomads and “water” among the village people. Based on the stories told by the oldest Azerbaijani weavers with nomadic roots, a dragon featuring carpet would protect the family from foul weather. In Taoism, a dragon is associated with spring. The Tibet pantheon considers dragon as a good deity, a master of chiefs. If the S-element takes up the whole of the carpet space, it would be viewed as an image of a dragon itself rather than a dragon symbol. This element has been known to the local weaver for centuries and is characterized by an ability to come alive through embodiment in a specific image and to symbolize the good and happiness.

Jejim

Jejims are woven on simple horizontal looms by narrow stripes 30-35 cm wide and 15-10 cm long. The resulting product is a cloth to be used as a wall carpet, a bedding coverlet, or curtains. The width of a jejim matches the distance between the weaver’s feet as in the process of weaving the whole width of the cloth should pass through the weaver’s feet. The ornamental décor of jejims is diverse and rich. Various vertical stripes that decorate jejims are spectacular, colorful and decorative. They are often decorated by stylized images of utensils (comb, thread, candlesticks) and geometrical elements. Up to the mid 20th century delicate jejims were used to make garments both for men and women. The major jejim production centers are Barda, Nakhichevan, Zangilan, Shusha, Shemakha.

Zilli

Carpet Zilli “Zilli” is an interesting variety of flat-woven carpets. They are characterized by stylized forms of animals and vegetal elements. In terms of their composition and pattern the Azerbaijani zillis are very diverse. They feature a plastic flexibility of the pattern and emotional expressiveness. The ornamental decoration is marked by images of large elements in the shape of big lozenges, paired horns, various stylized elements. There are “zillis” with a variety of compositions, which differed by peculiar vegetal ornamental patterns and overall rich colors. The key element in such compositions lies in the recurring alternation of colors along the horizontal pt vertical lines, which form an energetic rhythm. As to their technical and artistic qualities, “zillis” are rich in moving images of stylized birds, elaborated “butas” and other elements. “Zilli’ were obviously influenced by the tendency to fill in the space by various motifs, each being repeated in the field according to its individual layout, and the overall result resembles a fancy garden with a rich and fairy-tale flora.

Kilim

Kilim is the most wide spread type of flat-woven carpets. They are made by passing the weft through the warp using the technique of compound interweaving. Kilim is characterized by a slot-like gap (opening) around the geometrical patterns. These openings impart a lace effect the kilim. The technique of kilim weaving predetermines the pattern shapes in the form of a lozenge, triangle, trapezium. Nearly all the vegetal elements, images of animals, birds and humans are geometrized in kilims. Kilims of different regions are distinguished by their composition, pattern, and colors. In terms of their technical peculiarities kilims can be classified into five major groups based on the area of production: Kazakh, Karabakh, Absheron, Shirvan and Tebriz kilims. They are all characterized by a balanced composition, contrasting colors and clear symmetry. The patter is traditional, in the form of large and small lozenge and hook-like elements, which are rather expressive and dramatic.

Sumakh

The “Sumakh” carpets present one of the interesting types of flat-weave carpets, which have become widely spread and recognized over the last few centuries. Beginning with the 18th century “Sumakhs” have been made in the Kuba nd Gusary districts. “Sumakhs” were created much later than other types of flat-woven carpets. In the early stage of their development they might have had their own individual composition, but the “Sumakhs” of the 18th-20th centuries reproduce the compositions and patters copied from the pile carpets made in Shirvan, Kuba, Karabakh and Ganja. The technological peculiarity of “Sumakh” lies in their rich composition and colors. The diverse stylized vegetal motifs, various geometrical elements such as large hexahedral, square, rhomboid medallions impart festive beauty to “Sumakh”. The traditional pattern includes the minor edge with a wave-like pattern, which is called “dolan-gach” (pass around - run away). It is used basically in all “Sumakh” type carpets.

Palas

Palas is one of the widely spread flat-weave carpets. The palas weaving process consists in passing the weft through the warp by a simple technique. The weavers decorate the palas by traditional patters in the form of horizontal stripes commonly used throughout Azerbaijan. But every individual weavers had their own choice of composition and colors. Changing the stripe size the weavers changed the correlation of colors, thus creating countless variations of fine palases. As a rule, the palas is not framed by a border. The palases called “chiy” are made by a very unusual weaving technique. Similarly to other simple types of palases the background of “chiy” is plain weave. At the same time, the pattern-making thread is used to create a fine tiny geometrical pattern by piercing “sanjma”. This creates the embroidery effect.

Namzalyg

These carpets, which are called in Azerbaijan "jeynamaz", "namazlyk, "mekhrabi", in Iran "tagi", "janamaz", in Arabia "sajjade", both in terms of their format and composition are distinct from the rest of the carpets. In the reign of Shakh Abbas (the 16th century) and his successors the weavers made small prayer rugs called "namazlyk", decorated by inscriptions in Arabic such as quotes from the Koran, the words "Allahu Akbar", "Ya Ali". These dicta as a rule was placed in the top of the carpet. From the artistic point of view the Northern Azerbaijan namazlyks differed from those made in Southern Azerbaijan. The latter, in their upper part, depicted objects required for the namaz prayer (beads, a beard comb, a prayer book, mokhur) rather than the religious inscriptions. Also, sometimes there were images of hands woven on the left and right sides. Thus one can conclude that namazlyks appeared in the second quarter of the 14th century as the Moslems attached great importance to the namaz prayer ceremony. Compositionally, namazlyks can be divided into the following two groups:

• village rugs (made by the folk weavers following the Arab conquest), and
• workshop rugs, which since the 16th century have been woven using sketches of the professional carpet makers

Dyeing wool

At dyeing workshops, professionals dye yarns with dye-stuffs mainly of plant origin, strictly following the centuries old traditional techniques of colouring. Though appearing to be simple at first sight, this work requires high skills of a dyer. To prepare the seven basic colors (red, green, yellow, black, dark blue, white, purple) and their tints used in carpetmaking, professional dyers use green walnut shells, the skin of pomegranates, indigo, leaves of the mulberry, quince and walnut plants, and roots of madder. For example, in order to achieve yellow and its hues, they use bulb onion peels, mulberry leaves collected in the late autumn, etc. To produce red and pink colors, madder is used, and to obtain dark blue, blue and green, indigo dye is used. At the very end of the yarn dyeing process a dyer adds salt, alum or vinegar into the dye solution to increase the intensity, fastness and durability of colours. Then, dyed yarns are pressed and dried with special techniques.

Weaving

On weaving looms made of strong, high-quality materials and having advanced technological characteristics, woollen and silk carpets of various sizes (from 1 to 40 sq. m.) with average knot density (from 35õ60 to 55õ55) are woven in a comparatively short space of time.

To make these fantastic carpets, only three hand tools are used - a knife, a beater and shears. These carpets completely satisfy modern demands for quality and at the same time they preserve ancient carpet-weaving traditions.

Washing, Drying and Smoothing

Dust accumulated on the carpets and fringes while weaving is cleaned in the rotating wooden drums made of pistachio tree. After this they are thoroughly washed in special pools with soap and other washing liquids suitable for carpet washing. Finally carpets are dried.

One of the secrets to the carpets' unusual beauty is their smoothness and pile brightness achieved through the process of smoothing by applying up-to-date advanced technology. After the carpets have been smoothed out, they become soft and pleasing to the eye.

Pulling

In most cases carpets manually woven of silk and wool have clear unevenness of their edges. To eliminate this defect carpets are fastened to wooden floors with their four ends pulled. Then the carpet is raised up from the middle by means of special wooden lifters and smoothened on the back side. After that the carpet is pulled and fastened to the wooden floor again and left in this position for two days. As a result of this process the crookedness of the carpet which has just been taken off the weaving loom is totally eliminated and the edges of the carpet become straight.

Carpet-weaving schools

Kuba-Shirvan

The rise of the carpet art on the territory of Azerbaijan was undoubtedly related to a number of objective factors, among them the geographical location of this land, at the joint of the East and the West. Here, along the Greater Caucasus ridge, lies the borderline between Asia and Europe. Here is the historical juxtaposition point between the Islamic and Christian cultures. Long camelcades passed through this land in the Middle Ages.

Azerbaijani carpets can be categorized under several large groups and a multitude of subgroups. The true scientific research of the Azerbaijani carpet is connected with the name of Latif Kerimov, a prominent scientist and artist. It was his classification that related the four large groups of carpets with the four geographical zones of Azerbaijan, i.e. Guba-Shirvan, Ganja-Kazakh, Karabakh and Tebriz.

• The Kuba carpet-making school:

The Kuba school that includes the Gonagkend and Divichi districts covers up to 35 pattern compositions of the carpets. Kuba is an historical region hosting plentitude of various tribes. Even now the region is populated by ethnic groups that speak different languages, among them Azerbaijanis, Lezghins, Tats, Budugs, Gyryzys and others. The Kuba carpets are remarkable for a wide variety of designs, which may differ even from village to village. The ornamental pattern is characterized by geometrical and vegetal motifs, most of them stylized. These include Gyryz, Gymyl, Gonakend, Shahnezerli and other carpets. On the face of it, the ornamental pattern in the Kuba carpet group may appear to be too mixed and varied. However, on closer examination it becomes evident that all ornaments in the composition strictly follow a common design.

• The Shirvan carpet weaving school:

The Shirvan school is famous for its superb carpets. Shirvan is one of the most ancient historical regions of Azerbaijan. Carpet making of different types is a wide spread craft with both settled and nomadic natives. The Shirvan school accounts for carpets manufactured in the following towns and villages of the Shirvan region: Shemaha, Maraza, Akhsu, Kurdamir. The school totals 25 compositions. The Salyan carpets, with similar artistic and technical features, also belong to this school. The Shirvan carpets are characterized by an intricate design, which depicts numerous artifacts of everyday life, birds and people.

Ganja-Kazakh carpet-weaving school

The carpets of this school are notable for peculiarity of their compositions and ornamental patterns. The Ganja carpets include a relatively small number of carpet compositions, all in all between 8 and 20 patterns. The Kazakh carpets cover about 16 compositions with various patterns. Kazakh, which is located on the NW of Azerbaijan, is the most famous carpet production region and also accounts for the Kazakh and Borchaly carpet groups. The Kazakh carpets have a geometrical ornamental pattern, the composition is not very complex with a focus on a schematic presentation of the geometrical patterns, plants and animals. The ornamental d?cor of the Ganja carpets is rich and diverse, with a focus on geometrical motifs as well as schematic presentation of plants and anumals.

The Baku carpet school

The Baku school of carpet weaving includes the villages of Novkhany, Fatmai, Nardaran, Bulbulya, Mardakan, Gaadi. These carpets are marked for their increased softness of the material and intense colors, as well as excellent artistic taste and exquisite decoration. This school has about 10 compositions. The historical sources and inscriptions on the carpets testify to the fact that carpet making was widely spread in these villages and carpet-ware was exported outside the country. The carpet composition often includes medallions. They are filled by various motifs, most often by stylized images of plants, which lost their resemblance to the original object after they had been geometrized.

Karabakh school of carpet weaving

The Karabakh carpets amount to 33 compositions. Due to the specifics of the local sheep wool the Karabakh carpets are characterized by thick pile, high and fluffy. These carpets are marked for their vivid and joyous colors. They are divided into four groups: without medallions, with medallions, namazlyk and subject carpet. In the mountainous part of Karabakh the carpets were made in Malybeili, Muradkhanly, Dashbulakh, Jebrail, Goradis and many other villages.

Tebriz carpet making school

Tebriz used to be a large and worldwide famous carpet making center in the Southern Azerbaijan. It played a significant role in development the rich traditions of the decorative and applied arts.

The Tebriz carpet art was in its prime in the 12th-16th centuries. About 200 Tebriz school masterpieces of the classical or "golden" period of the 14th century are characterized by a harmonic merge of the arts of miniature paintings and weaving, by a high level of craftsmanship demonstrated by artists and carpet weavers.

The Tebriz school can be divided into 2 subgroups: Tebriz and Ardebil.

The Tebriz group includes the following famous carpets: "Tebriz", "Geris", "Lachakturunj", "Afshan", "Agajaly", "Dord Fesil".

The Ardebil group includes the following widely known carpets: " Ardebil", "Sheikh Safi", "Serabi", "Shakh Abbasy", "Mir".

The traditional features of this group, which were developed to a high level from the decorative and technical points of view, with time became famous far outside Azerbaijan.

See also

• Latif Karimov

Links

• [1] Ultimate Guide to Azerbaijan Caucasian Rugs
• Azerbaijan Carpet/Rugs During Soviets
• History of Azerbaijani Carpets/Rugs
• Carpets of Azerbaijan
• Azerbaijani Carpets and Embroidery
• The Land of Arts - Carpets by Regions
• Carpets of Azerbaijan