Carpet weaving goes back to millenniums ago and oriental countries have always been the leaders of this tradition.
Caucasus, you must have heard the name, is a patch of land encircled by the Caspian Sea at one side and the Black Sea on the other side.
What is so famous about this Asia Minor land? Of course, textiles and carpet weaving!
Large fabricated carpets in traditional and folk designs hold the real worth of this rarely known place.
Caucasian carpets now actually have gained an antique stature and hold the hall of fame worldwide.
What make the Caucasian carpets highly attractive are the use of natural colors with invariable shades and the variety of designs knitted together in the form of a narrative tale combining with the different shapes and patterns of geometrical drawings.
Take a look at the common features that you will often come across in a Caucasian carpet:
- The weaving pattern:
- How are the Caucasian carpets generally weaved? The basic technique is tying knots which are common for all traditional carpet making.
- Similarly, in case of the Caucasian carpets, the pattern followed in tying knots is a very fine and tedious procedure as followed by the Turks.
- The Turkish knots and the Giordes knots are prevalent in the Caucasian carpets.
- The use of raw material:
- Caucasian carpets are actually woolen carpets. The knotted Caucasian carpets are made of rich wool and have a great wearing capacity.
- This was the ancient culture of weaving carpets. But in modern times the Caucasian carpet weavers too use warp and weft threads for making carpets.
- Where do they get these threads from? These are actually obtained from goat hair and woolen fiber. Even cotton yarn is popular in the making of Caucasian carpets.
- Colors and design patterns:
- The Caucasian carpet weavers are mostly inhabitant tribes of the different places of the region where they are made.
- Therefore, the color choice largely depicts the folk flavor and the colors are obtained from the natural sources.
- The colors are bright and bold. The traditional weaving pattern is not just laborious but also very time consuming.
- Even so, a glance of the traditionally weaved Caucasian carpet will leave you spellbound.
- Folk forms and geometrical designs:
- If you have ever seen an Akstafa carpet, a major type of Caucasian carpet, you will simply get enchanted and take it as a natural niche of country birds.
- Highly decorative, these carpets are knotted in the design of birds in a series and they have long necks with the colorful and wonderful tails of peacocks.
- You can easily imagine the nitty-gritty of weaving knots to create such interesting designs.
Similarly, the Bidjov carpets another Caucasian type have geometrical forms in both realistic and abstract patterns. Nature has been the most thoughtful area of creation and innovative designs.
And every time life formed the core of the designing forms, be it the birds or the dogs or any other animal closely associated with the tribal life.
– Modern use of warp threads and the weft threads:
Warp threads come in a combination of light and dark shades. These fibers are spun from goat hair and accordingly dyed to make the balance in the combination of colors.
On the other hand, weft threads are of multiple colors and often combined with the warp to create the dark tinge.
Brown, rusty red and blue; the deeper shade are common in the wefts but the white color is unique among all.
