Kilim

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kilim
Kilim with modern motifs from Afghanistan

A kilim (Turkish kilim ) is a woven carpet or wall hanging , the specialty of which is that the weft thread forms the pattern on both sides of the kilim, which means that, similar to European pictorial knitting , it is not woven with a continuous weft thread becomes. This type of production is found particularly in the Caucasus region , Iran , Asia Minor and the Balkans .

terminology

In western practical usage, the kilim signifies an ambiguous term that is used to describe all woven floor coverings except for knotted carpets. Such a consensus, however, lacks historical, technical and aesthetic similarities in principle, since the term kilim is a collective term for various techniques, e.g. B. Knitting techniques of all kinds, broaching with floating wefts (sumak) or winding bindings, weaving with warp reps, many types of brooching with additional wefts or warps and various combinations of these weaving techniques. The question of whether a certain term is defined by a certain technology or a certain pattern or whether it relates to a certain ethnic, tribal or geographical origin has not been clearly scientifically clarified in tissue-related research and, with a few exceptions, cannot be answered with certainty. On the other hand, original names of origin can designate both the place of manufacture and the type of fabric. An example of this is the sumak. The terms Zili, Zilu and Verneh are further examples where there is no clarity about the origin of the tissue terminology, i.e. H. whether these terms are based on the place of origin or the weaving technique used.

In the case of the term kilim, it is technically the designation of patterned weaving mills, which are mostly made of wool, are worked in the slit kilim technique with weft rep and - in a decorative and practical function at the same time - serve either as blankets or as hangings. The same technique is also used in the French Aubusson carpet, tapestries and other European tapestries, pre-Columbian textiles from South America, North American blankets from the Navajos , Egyptian textiles from the Pharaohs, Copts, Arabs and Ottomans, and woven fabrics from Central and East Asia as well as Indonesia to the Chinese K'o-ssu. There are even cases in which active tissues that are completely contradicting the cultural topology show similar patterns. The Navajo blankets, for example, show a striking resemblance to so-called baklava- patterned kilims from the Balkan countries, Asia Minor and Persia.

For scientific usage, the term kilim is therefore associated with an unambiguous, geographically narrowing origin and is used exclusively for knitted carpets with an origin in the Balkan countries, the Middle East.

Analogous to a significant expansion of the term, there is the contrary case, the synonymy of terms. A Persian Gilim or Gelim , an Anatolian Palas or Palas and a Syrian Busut or B'sath are all real kilims.

history

Carpet fragment (knotting or loop weaving technique), 3rd – 4. Century, Loulan , now in the British Museum

The explorer Aurel Stein found flat-woven kilims in Turpan , East Turkestan, China, which can be dated back to the 4th or 5th century AD. Xenophon's description of wall hangings and floor coverings in the riches of Cyrus, however, suggests an even older use . The terms Pilon, Tapetes and Rapta are likely carpets and textiles, belonging to the group of kilims to understand. Anatolian textile fragments from the 7th century BC Chr. Indicate an even older knowledge of the slit kilim technique. An ancient spread of the slit kilim technique and kilim weaving can therefore be assumed.

The oldest dated kilims known today date from the 16th century. Artistically, however, they are already so excellent that they can hardly represent the earliest woven ones. Certain kilim fragments dated with radiocarbon dates from the 13th to 14th centuries.

In 1967, the British archaeologist James Mellaart claimed to have discovered the oldest depictions of flatweaves on wall paintings in the Çatalhöyük excavations , which he dates back to around 7000 BC. BC and thus dated to the Neolithic . In 1990 this claim was refuted as a scientific falsification.

use

The weaving of kilims goes back to a centuries-old and pre-Islamic tradition. Nomads have woven their tent hangings, floor coverings and blankets on looms. The patterns and motifs are images from the natural environment (e.g. animals or plants) or reflect emotions (marriage wish, happiness, etc.). The kilims can be identified by their decorations. The women of the various nomadic tribes have produced their own variants over generations and passed them on from mother to daughter. At the same time as the decline in nomadic peoples, production for personal use has also decreased significantly. The patterns of the kilims (e.g. the Elibelinde ) have been incorporated into today's, mostly machine production , but are no longer inevitably in the tradition of their respective regions of origin. Today's ornaments are often designed by designers. Antique kilims that are over 100 years old are therefore particularly attractive collector's items on the global art market.

distribution

The distribution of the actual kilime without the cousins ​​from the family of active ingredients manufactured using the slit kilim technique is Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan , Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Russia, China, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania, Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia, Greece and Poland. The centers are mainly in the Anatolian , Armenian and Iranian highlands as well as the Transcaucasus , the High Caucasus and the regions of Central Asia and Balochistan bordering the Afghan highlands .

structure

A kilim is made from two types of yarn and thread: warp and weft. In its basic form, this is one of the simplest weaving methods and can be traced back to ancient times, probably to prehistoric times.

Chain

The warp threads determine the width of the kilim through the distance from one another on the loom. This basically defines this dimension. The length of the warp threads determines the maximum length of the kilim.

shot

The horizontal weft threads, which are led above and below adjacent warp threads, characterize the kilim as weaving with weft repos. Here the horizontal weft threads are knocked together tightly enough so that the vertical warp threads are covered. Therefore, a kilim owes its appearance exclusively to the weft threads. All patterns are thus the result of the weft threads placed next to each other with different colors. Therefore, undyed yarns can be used for the warp and only colored yarns for the weft threads.

The texture of the kilim depends on the yarn thickness and the distance between the individual threads, as well as the fineness of the warp threads and their density. Since kilims are mostly patterned, kilims are weavings with interrupted weft threads.

Slit kilim technique

Left picture: Schematic representation of the slit kilim technique: The differently colored threads are returned to the color borders and leave a slit open. Right picture: Anatolian slit kilim, the fold shows the slit between differently colored areas. Left picture: Schematic representation of the slit kilim technique: The differently colored threads are returned to the color borders and leave a slit open. Right picture: Anatolian slit kilim, the fold shows the slit between differently colored areas.
Left picture : Schematic representation of the slit kilim technique: The differently colored threads are returned to the color borders and leave a slit open.
Right picture : Anatolian slit kilim, the fold shows the slit between differently colored areas.

A specialty among the kilim carpets are the so-called slit kilims, in which the weft thread is reversed on exactly the same chain within straight pattern sections, so that a slit is created in the fabric. The slit kilim technique is by far the most common type of weave for kilims. For this purpose, if there is also a color change in the lateral direction during a pattern, the last colored weft is guided around the last warp thread of the corresponding colored area. A vertical slot is therefore created for vertically adjacent surfaces. These eponymous slots in the kilim weaving technique are kept as small as possible by a series of offset slots with a gradation of the transitions in order to obtain greater fabric strength.

variants

The carpets in sumak technique (also soumak , sumakh or sumac ) are also counted as flat woven fabrics . The pattern threads are looped around the warp threads and then a weft thread is woven in, creating an underground pile that gives the carpet special insulation properties. Sumak carpets were therefore often used as a material for creating cradles or for insulation against the desert floor.

Provenances

Anatolia (Turkey)

The history of kilim weaving in Anatolia is still unknown today, and the prospect of clarifying it is slim. Since kilims here only had a functional meaning for a long time and had no commercial value, none of the kilims older than the 17th century have survived. These kilims are from court inventory, kilims from nomadic or village environments come from the 18th century. In contrast, the tradition of Anatolian kilims from the 19th century is diverse.

Anatolian kilims are characterized by their color brilliance and the play of colors in the patterns. Colors are an integral part of certain spatial patterns in which certain motifs are emphasized.

In Anatolia as one of the centers of kilim weaving, provenances are distinguished in large numbers. Due to the unmanageable abundance of kilim designs, the lack of documentation and the not always precise naming by the kilim dealers, it is extremely difficult to accurately assign each individual kilim. Ultimately, the color, pattern, weave, size and materials are decisive for their assignment.

Anatolian kilims were and are made by a number of nomadic peoples. These include the indigenous Kurds , as well as the now settled by migrations in Anatolia as the Turkic Yörüks and the Oghuz Seljuk and Ottoman Oghuz.

The best known and most valued are the kilims, which have traditional provincial names of cities, regions and villages, such as Konya , Malatya , Karapinar and Hotamis.

Turkish Kurds
  • Van
  • Gaziantep
  • Sivas
  • Malatya
Iraqi Kurds
  • Iraqi Kurd
Caucasian Turks North East Anatolia
  • Kars and Kağizman
  • Erzurum
  • Turkish Karabağs
Black Sea Coast and Northern Anatolia
  • Çorum and Çankiri
  • Elmadağ
  • Sivrihisar
  • Manastir spread by re-emigrated Balkan Turks (Manastir, former Ottoman name Bitolas )
  • Keles
Anatolian Aegean and Western Anatolia
  • Yüncü Yörük
  • Balikesir
  • Bergama
  • Aydin
  • Usak
  • Denizli
  • Eşme
  • Çal
  • Dazkiri
  • Afyon
Southern Anatolia
  • Fethiye
  • Antalya
  • Adana
  • Reyhanli
Central Anatolia
  • Konya
  • Obruk
  • Keçimuhsine Çiçims
  • Karapinar
  • Aksaray
  • Niğde
  • Kayseri
Taurian Yörüks
  • courage
  • Dağ
  • Aleppo
Iran
  • Senna
  • Bidschar
  • Khorassan
  • Shahsavan with varieties from Mogan, Hashtrud, Mianeh, Bidschar Khamseh, Qazvin, Saveh and Veramin
  • Lurs
  • Bakhtiari with varieties from Shushtar, Chahar mahal
  • Qashqai
  • Khamsa
  • Afshar with varieties from Khuzestan, Azerbaijan, Khorassam Kerman, Sirjan, Jiruft, Baft
  • Kerman
  • Veramin
  • Garmsar
  • Harsin and Hamadan
  • Zarand, Saveh and Qazvin
  • Ardabil
  • Talisch

Caucasus

  • Caucasian Soumak
Azerbaijan
  • Quba
  • Shirvan

Eastern Europe and the Balkans

Bosnian kilim ( Bosanski ćilim )

Pirot kilim from the Serbian city of Pirot

literature

  • Alastair Hull, Jose Luczyc-Wyhowska: Kilim - The Complete Guide (History, Pattern, Technique, Identification). Thames and Hudson, London 1993, ISBN 0-500-01565-1 .
  • Belkis Balpinar, Udo Hirsch: Flatweaves of the Vakiflar Museum Istanbul - Flatweaves of the Vakiflar Museum Istanbul. Hülsey, Wesel 1982, ISBN 3-923185-02-2 .
  • Cathryn M. Cootner, Anatolian Kilims: The Caroline & H. Mccoy Jones Collection. Sotheby's et al. a., San Francisco 1990, ISBN 0-85667-390-0 .
  • Volkmar Enderlein : Oriental kilims. Flatweaves from Anatolia, Iran and the Caucasus . Henschel, Berlin 1986, DNB 860638308 .
  • Harald Böhmer: Nomads in Anatolia - encounter with a fading culture. REMHÖB-Verlag, Ganderkesee 2004, ISBN 3-936713-02-2 .
  • Harry Koll: cult kilim. Selected Anatolian flatweaves. Aachen 1999, ISBN 3-926779-77-2
  • Harry Koll: Kelim: Textile art from Anatolia. Aachen 2002, ISBN 3-926779-78-0 .
  • Harry Koll: The colors of my dreams. Early kilims from Anatolia. Aachen 2011, ISBN 978-3-00-032897-8 Table of contents (PDF; 27 kB)
  • Collection Konzett, Helmut Ploier: Woven poetry. Konzett, Graz 1991, OCLC 79718968 .
  • Yanni Petsopoulos: The kilim, a manual. Prestel, Munich 1980, ISBN 3-7913-0474-7 .
  • Yanni Petsopoulos: One hundred kilims, masterpieces from Anatolia. Alexandria Press, London 1991, ISBN 3-927270-07-5 .
  • Jürg Rageth (Ed.): Anatolian Kilims & Radiocarbon Dating. Riehen (CH) 1999, ISBN 3-85895-993-6 .
  • Ignazio Vok: Anatolia - Kilims and other flat woven fabrics from Anatolia. Text Udo Hirsch, German and English edition. Vok, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-931105-04-0 .
  • Ignazio Vok: Caucasus Persia - Gilim and other flat woven fabrics. Text Hamid Sadighi, German and English edition. Vok, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-931105-02-4 .

Web links

Commons : Kilims  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Kelim  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Yanni Petsopoulos: One hundred kilims - masterpieces from Anatolia . Exhibition catalog in the State Museum of Ethnology in Munich. Alexandria press, London 1991, ISBN 3-927270-07-5 , p. 16.
  2. ↑ Friedrich Spuhler : The oriental carpets in the Museum of Islamic Art Berlin . Klinkhardt and Biermann, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-7814-0270-3 .
  3. ↑ Petsopoulos: One hundred kilims. 1991, p. 22.
  4. ↑ RH Dyson: Catal Huyuk. A Neolithic Town in Anatolia. James Mellaart. McGraw-Hill, New York, 1967 . In: Science . 157, No. 3795, September 22, 1967, pp. 1419-1420. doi : 10.1126 / science.157.3795.1419 .
  5. ^ Oriental Rug Review , Volume 10, No. 6, August / September 1990 .
  6. ^ Valerie Sharaf Justin: Flat-woven rugs of the world - Kilim, Soumak, and Brocading. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York 1980.
  7. ↑ Yanni Petsopoulos: The kilim - a manual . Prestel Verlag, Munich 1980.
  8. ↑ Alastair Hull, José Luczyc-Wyhowska, 1993: Kilim - the complete guide . P. 108
  9. ↑ ibid Alastaier Hull, Josüe Luczc-Wyhowska, p. 109
  10. ↑ Alastaier Hull, Josüe Luczc-Wyhowska, pp. 104-105