Turn on the television and watch a film, drama or even an advertisement unfold and notice how Oriental carpets are often used to decorate the floors of various film sets. Make-believe hotel lobbies will display contemporary Nains and Kashans from Iran. Carpets can be spotted on the film sets of popular detective dramas. Antique and collector programs seen on UK television will display an assortment of fine furniture gracefully standing on finely woven carpets. While it is frustrating how these highly informative antique and collector programs never focus on the artistic and aesthetic merit of the Oriental carpets they use to complement the furniture, nonetheless this regular exposure of the piled carpet in the world’s media along with the insatiable demand from the public has helped to push the carpet to the forefront of people’s minds.
This relentless exposure and demand for carpets has unfortunately relegated the kelim (flatweave) to being the poor relative. Despite the fact that kelim weaving is as old as piled weaving, the poor kelim remains thought of as considerably less glamorous and awe-inspiring compared with the piled carpet and therefore remains in its shadow.
The Afghans originally used kelims as protective covers to wrap up their valuable carpets when transporting them for sale to the bazaars. Kelims produced in the southern Caucasus were originally used as coverings for their horse-drawn wagons and carts. Examples such as these have not helped to endear the kelim to people and only perpetuated the myth that kelims are inferior.
Interestingly, the kelim is now, and quite rightly so, gaining admirers. This growing appreciation is spreading worldwide and has now made a very big impact on collectors and interior designers alike. Large sums of money are being paid for the best quality kelims from the Caucasus, Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey, and some of them have higher price tags than some of their posh piled-carpet relatives. At last, the detailed, seductively colored kelim is becoming more prominent in the minds of the art world and collectors.
All kelims, like carpets, have a warps and wefts structure of either wool or cotton and in some instances silk. Where wool is used, it is usually hand-spun and hand-dyed. However, as is the case with many carpets, there are machine-spun wool and synthetically dyed examples in abundance on the market. Kelims are produced using various flatweave techniques such as the double interlock tapestry, weft faced patterning, zilli, slitweave and soumak. Many examples of old and contemporary slitweave and soumak techniques can be seen in Saudi Arabia’s carpet shops.
The slitweave technique is famously used by the Shirvan weavers in the Caucasus. This incredibly simple technique when completed displays both slits in its construction and blocks of color throughout the design. Hold the kelim up to the light and see shafts of light piercing through the slits. The design on the rear side displays the same clarity and definition as the front side (a reversible kelim). Finely-woven Shirvan kelims, measuring 2.80 m x 1.66 m and larger, often display intricately detailed, large horizontal panels flanked on either side by narrow decorative bands. Unlike the classic carpet design, a main boarder is not used.
Design details include hexagons, diamonds, stepped pyramids, triangles, and abstract animal heads. Colors include dark blues, light blues, pinks, yellows and greens. The Shirvan kelim weavers also produced small runner type kelims that could be placed on the top of coffee tables and cabinets. These little masterpieces look very impressive and give great dimension and depth to a room. Unfortunately, these smaller kelims are now becoming scarce. Consequently, good quality Shirvan kelims maintain high prices and are therefore favorable middle to long-term investments.
In comparison, the soumak flatweave can only be viewed from the front. The soumak weaver uses an intricate weft-wrapping technique that exposes long threads of wefts on the rear of the kelim. It is this exposure of the wefts that partially conceals and at the same time blurs the design on the rear side of the kelim. The soumak technique can be seen in many of the carpet shops all over Saudi Arabia in the forms of Persian soumak weaving.
Popular main field design details used by the Persian soumak weavers include large rectangular medallions filled in with abstract animals and animal heads. Also a myriad of abstract birds, peacocks and chickens are surrounded by hundreds of delicately woven rosettes. A main border design seen in many of these weavings is the classic wineglass and serrated leaf, a design detail seen in many Caucasian weavings. The colors used are very vibrant and bold. Colors, many of which are synthetic, include scarlet red, pink, purple, beige, midnight blue, olive, terracotta, lilac, black, brown, green and ivory.
Next time you decide to visit the carpet souk ignore the piled carpet if possible and focus only on kelims. Look at the abstract designs and the gem-like colors and allow the simplicity and the raw charm of the kelim to reach out to the informal, relaxed side of your personality.
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or visit www.warpsandwefts.com.)
— Arab News Features 25 September 2003