carpet
A carpet (via Romanesque such as folk Latin tapetum / tapeta and Old Greek τάπης tápēs related to Persian täftan , 'spinning') is a textile fabric of limited dimensions that can be knotted , woven , knitted or tufted and is usually patterned . While in Europe today carpets are exclusively understood to mean textile floor coverings, the term in the Middle East ( Orient ) still refers to all types of flat textiles that are used to cover walls (the later wallpaper ), tables and floors. According to the format, a distinction is made between rugs, bridges and runners, in the 20th century carpeting and carpet tiles were also created .
Art and cultural studies distinguish oriental carpets from carpets made in Europe.
Oriental carpets
history
The manufacture of flat woven fabrics , and thus also carpets, can be found in the beginnings of human culture. Woven objects, mostly made of willow , can be traced back to prehistoric times. Braiding processes were used to connect movable material. Lichen is therefore seen as a preliminary stage of weaving and has always been part of nomadic and rural everyday life; the flat fabrics produced in this way were used exclusively for personal use. For example, the original use of a hatschlu was that of an entrance door to the yurt . Knotted carpets can also be found in nomadic culture, for example the Meshgin .
The oldest known evidence of a knotted carpet is the Pasyryk carpet from a grave preserved in permafrost in the Pasyryk Valley in the Altai Mountains ( southern Siberia ), on the border with Outer Mongolia . It is believed that it was around 500 BC. BC probably originated in West Asia . You can already see all the characteristics of the oriental carpet on it.
Around 330 BC Chr. Brought Alexander the Great first time oriental carpets of its Asia campaigns with the West. Since carpets are made of ephemeral material, there aren't many historical artifacts that can be used to reconstruct the evolution of the patterns.
Because there are only a few preserved carpets from the early 15th and 16th centuries, one is heavily dependent on pictorial traditions in the area of carpet history. An important source of information for this is the architecture. The architects of the Orient were inspired by the carpets for the mosaic patterns on their buildings and thus preserved the patterns in a much more permanent form for posterity, for example in the ornamentation of facade mosaics. The origins and changes in the art of knotting and contemporary tastes can also be studied on many of the paintings of that time. With great attention to detail when capturing everyday scenes or when painting commissioned aristocratic courts, carpets were also painted. Therefore it is possible for us today to document the development of Turkish (Ottoman) carpet weaving.
The painters Domenico Ghirlandaio , Hans Holbein and Lorenzo Lotto should be mentioned here in particular . We owe to them the traditions of the so-called “Ghirlandaio carpets”, the “Holbein carpets” and the “Lotto carpets”. Above all, the patterns of the "Holbein carpets" can still be found in today's knots of the so-called Afghans .
Provenances
In the carpet trade, the term 'provenance' has become established to denote the origin of a carpet. The place or landscape name of the oriental carpet is the designation of origin or provenance, which is also a quality designation, since the individual places and areas have their own tradition in terms of design and quality. Oriental carpets are made in India , Iran or Turkey . But they also come from the Caucasus , Pakistan and Afghanistan . Furthermore, carpets come from China , Nepal and Mongolia as well as from Japan ; The so-called Berber carpets of the Maghreb countries should also be mentioned. Oriental carpets were also produced in various European countries in the 19th century. B. in Deventer / Holland; today they are still made in Croatia and Romania .
Oriental rugs are characterized by their manual production and their pattern , which is based on the principle of surface decoration. In the representation, a distinction is made between floral, figural and geometric patterns. There are also the small (approx. 50 × 80 cm) prayer rugs, which are made and always directed in almost all parts of the Islamic world .
Knitted and knotted carpets
Oriental carpets are either knitted or knotted.
Knitting technology
The oriental knitted carpet, also known as tapestry , is historically and technically the forerunner of European pictorial knitting . According to its importance, it serves as a wall covering, and only the more common types serve e.g. B. as diwand corners , so-called kilims . Knitted carpets are often misleadingly called " tapestry-like carpets " because they are made using a technique similar to picture knitting . Your correct name is knitted carpet . They form a smooth fabric whose warp made of linen or cotton yarn is completely covered by a tightly wrapped woolen weft , creating a rep-like fabric. The weft is not inserted into the warp threads over the entire width of the fabric, but only connected to the edge of the adjacent colored area with the warp and then fed back. Because they only have warp and weft, the threads lie flat and cannot form a pile . Examples are kilims and sumak carpets.
Knotting technique
The knotted, plush- like carpets are made from cotton (manufactories), linen (very rare), wool (Anatolian carpets) or goat and other hair (nomad carpets) by knotting in pile stitches, knot after knot over the whole Width of the carpet to be knotted. One or two weft threads follow each row of knots. The knots can be symmetrical (Turkish knot) or asymmetrical (Senneh or Persian knot). After completing the carpet, its pile is leveled with simple hand shears. The material of the pile is sheep wool , for finer carpets silk . The most beautiful and finest oriental carpets are still those that are found in Persia, e.g. B. Isfahan, Qom or Nain, have been knotted. With a knot fineness of over 1,000,000 knots per square meter, e.g. Some of them are knotted on silk chain, they correspond to the European and American taste. The Turkish Hereke, newer pieces from the companies Ipek and Özipek, pure silk carpets with over 1,000,000 knots per square meter, are popular collector's items.
The Indian carpets have a visibly higher pile and 300–350 stitches per meter. Today many copies (re-tying) of high-quality, sought-after provenances come from India and Pakistan. A Gabbeh that is made in India (Indogabbeh) is more than 50% cheaper than the original Gabbeh from Iran. This is mainly due to the very low wages of the weavers in the Far East. In Pakistan in particular, carpets that are no longer manufactured as originals are being knotted today. Because production in parts of southern Russia ( Kazakhstan ) largely came to a standstill after the discovery of oil, because the people there had developed far better sources of income. Today the Kasak and Karachi carpets are mostly only found as reworked carpets from Pakistan.
The oriental carpets - namely the knotted Smyrna carpets - were imitated with good success in Europe, especially in Germany (Schmiedeberg since 1856, Cottbus, Wurzen , Springe , Linden, etc.) and in Vienna , using the same method. But one works with a warp made of linen yarn and a basic weft made of jute , achieves a great technical perfection and also knows how to reproduce the patterns and colors so faithfully that there is no longer a big difference between real and imitation Smyrna carpets.
Dyes in carpets
Before the invention of synthetic dyes (after 1850), the wool for the pile was dyed exclusively with vegetable or animal dyes. For red, redwood , madder and cochineal were used on wool stained with alum . There were a large number of dye plants for yellow tones . Indigo has been available for blue dyeing (green on yellow-dyed wool) since ancient times (today synthetic indigo). At the end of the 19th century, synthetic dyes were used, initially extremely sparingly, and later as a replacement for traditional dyes. A magenta red that was hardly lightfast is fuchsin . Faded on the pile side, it is still red-violet on the reverse side. It was used before 1900. Ponceau 2R partially replaced madder before synthetic madder ( alizarin ) was used. Amaranth was used to replace cochineal.
European carpets
history
The oriental carpet found its main entrance into Europe via Spain , where as early as 710 AD the Moors from North Africa founded a dynasty and brought with them the skill of carpet knotting. A real carpet industry developed in the city of Córdoba . The Islamic Nasrid dynasty built the Alhambra fortress above the city of Granada . The pomegranate became a city symbol and was later used across countries as an ornament in textile and carpet patterns.
By the 11th century at the latest, the technique of picture knitting developed in Europe , which primarily created wall hangings, so-called tapestries or tapestries, with pictorial motifs. The first production centers arose in the 14th century, initially in Switzerland and Germany , shortly afterwards in Flanders and the Netherlands , followed by England and finally France . In the Netherlands, picture knitting was made for floors, tables and walls, in which the influence of Eastern motifs remained visible until the 17th century. In England carpets had been produced since around 1570, which were technically and stylistically based on oriental carpets: on the one hand, on Anatolian models with preferably geometric patterns and, on the other hand, on Persian models, whose patterns came from Persian miniature painting . In the 18th century, the towns of Exeter , Moorfields and Axminster were the main centers of carpet production. In France, from the 1660s onwards , large-format knitted tapestries were made in the Paris tapestry factory , in Aubusson and in Beauvais . In contrast to the products of the Savonnerie-Manufaktur , which based on the model of the oriental carpets, produced high-pile, knotted textiles for floors, screens and furniture, the French tapestries were never used as floor coverings.
In Europe, too, carpets were often made at home. One example is the Pomeranian fisherman's carpets .
Woven, tufted and plush carpets
The woven carpet is an occidental product. The carpets manufactured in Europe since the 19th century are mostly machine-woven (exceptions: hand-knotted "German Smyrna carpets" and mechanically knotted "mechanical Smyrna carpets"). Depending on the nature of the woven carpets, a distinction is made between smooth, knobbed and looped carpets (cut or closed loops on the surface) and velvet, plush, velor and pile carpets. Smooth carpets are z. B. the Haargarn-, jute and coconut fiber carpet, a loop pile carpet is Brussels carpet (also Haarbrüssel- or bouclé with coarse Haargarnflor), a pile carpet , the carpet Tournay.
The first designs for automatic looms were made in the 18th century. The Englishman Edmond Cartwright applied for the first patent for a mechanical loom in 1785, which Richard Roberts further developed into an operational loom and brought onto the market by Richard Roberts in Manchester around 1826 . In 1889 the American Northrop presented the first fully automatic weaving machine ( loom ). In 1767 Richard Arkwright invented the spinning throstle , the chain chair, and around 1785 the carding and roving machine. James Hargreaves invented the spinning jenny in 1764 , which replaced the ordinary hand spinning wheel. The introduction of machine looms led to widespread uprisings. In German-speaking countries, for example, one speaks of the weavers' revolts around 1784/85, 1794/95 and 1844, in England of the machine storms and especially the Luddites (around 1810).
The vast majority of carpets produced today are tufted . Here, loops of thread are inserted very close to one another into an existing base fabric with needles. These thread loops are then cut open. Tufted carpets are less durable than real woven carpets, but they are cheaper to manufacture.
In Europe, as in the Orient, the smooth carpets are usually the lesser variety; they are made from cow or goat hair, ordinary carded yarn or jute and used as running carpets, to cover stairs, corridors, etc. This also includes Kidderminster carpets made of double weave, woolen or cotton warp and much stronger woolen weft; the pattern is created in the same way on the right and left, but appears negative on the reverse side (e.g. a red pattern on the front side on a blue background appears on the reverse side as a blue pattern on a red background).
The plush carpets either have an uncut pile that forms small, closed knobs ( Brussels carpets) or a cut pile that forms a velvety surface (velor, Tournai, Wilton, Axminster carpets). The manufacture is essentially that of the plush and velvet . The pattern is mostly produced with the jacquard machine, and depending on whether it contains more or less colors, more or less pile threads are drawn into each reed between two basic linen threads and the carpets are differentiated according to the number of these as three, four, five-part etc. choirs or parts.
Muster
The ornamentation of the carpets either imitates the oriental custom (especially with jacquard carpets), or it covers the whole area with flowers, animals, architecture etc. (especially with printed carpets). The former principle has broken more and more ground as the aesthetically appropriate one for carpets, so that naturalism in Germany, England and Austria only dominates cheap goods. In France , on the other hand, the naturalistic design in the most extravagant forms is still predominant. All types of oriental carpets are currently being reproduced in England, Austria and Germany. In Germany, which previously mainly supplied chain print carpets, carpets in Brussels and Axminster styles are also manufactured.
Cheaper carpets can be obtained by printing the pattern, either by printing the woven piece or by applying the pattern of the pile chain before processing. The latter process delivers a very good product, which far surpasses the carpets printed in one piece.
Carpet production in Germany
history
In 1854 Leopold Schoeller founded a carpet office in Düren, the Schoeller Brothers company . By submitting the English description, he secured the Prussian patent. The patent for these so-called print carpets , which Leopold Schoeller received, is still kept in the Secret State Archives in Berlin with the associated drawings . Your trademark was the anchor .
In 1861 the first carpet factory was founded in Cottbus by the entrepreneur Theodor Kühn. Hand-knotted and machine-woven carpets were made from wool and jute yarn. After Oskar Prietsch took over this factory, the company gained a worldwide reputation for the oriental carpet. This company later became the United Smyrna-Teppichfabrik AG as part of a merger . In Cottbus the production of hand-knotted and technical weaving carpets took place, so u. a. Tournay carpets (velor rod technique) with different colored pile chains and jacquard pattern. Also Axminster carpets (velor Maschinenwebtechnik) were produced at Smyrna in Cottbus.
In 1880, Karl Wilhelm Koch and Fritz te Kock founded Koch & te Kock as a weaving mill for Axminster carpets in Oelsnitz . With the founding, the Halbmond brand was also established. As early as 1913, Halbmond had risen to become the largest carpet weaving company in Germany.
In 1883 the brothers Carl and Adolf Vorwerk founded the Barmer carpet factory Vorwerk & Co. in Wuppertal. Initially, the family company produced Brussels and Tournay carpets and upholstery fabrics. The "VORWERK carpet", registered as a trademark in 1909, competed with oriental carpets.
The carpet factory Krüger & Hahn was founded in Cottbus in 1894. She made carpets, bridges, rugs and rugs. Her specialty was hand-knotted, artistically valuable carpets.
1900 Foundation of the Saxon art weaving mill Claviez AG GmbH in Leipzig. Carpets and upholstery fabrics were manufactured. In 1916 it was renamed Textilosewerke und Kunstweberei Claviez AG, then from 1927 Carpet and Textile Works AG. In 1900 the headquarters of Kunstweberei Claviez & Co. GmbH were relocated from Leipzig-Plagwitz to Adorf (Vogtland).
Five leading German carpet manufacturers came together in 1911 and asked the government for support, because the German carpet was not sufficiently known and appreciated in their own country. In any case, this was the opinion of the operators of the largest carpet weaving mills: the Barmer carpet factory Vorwerk & Co, the Vogtland weaving mill Koch & te Kock, the Saxon art weaving mill Claviez, the Berlin United Smyrna carpet factories and the Schoeller brothers, Düren. In the House of Representatives in Berlin, companies now have a forum to present their goods. More and more oriental carpets came to Germany - between 1906 and 1910 alone imports had tripled. As a rule, they were very expensive and therefore no competition for the weavers, but increasingly cheaper carpets of inferior quality were also imported, and such products were criticized.
Carpet manufacture in the GDR
In the GDR , a wide variety of carpet weaving mills - such as the Adoros, Koch, te Kock and Tefzet - were combined into the VEB Halbmondteppich in the VEB Kombinat DEKO Plauen . In addition to the usual carpet motifs, carpets with socialist slogans and motifs were also made here. These were mostly created on behalf of government agencies.
Modern carpet production
From 1960, copies of traditional patterns were also made in European countries such as Romania and Bulgaria, and a little later, from around 1970, in Asian countries, first in Pakistan and India, and later also in China. Berber, Tibetan and Nepal carpets have found their market. The changes in technology, communication and economy through globalization have left their mark on the carpet sector : The changes of the 20th century with the extinction of nomadism , the settling down , orders for the European market, the softening of wool in favor of cotton , in the structure and the emergence of manufactories in the original carpet centers and also in other regions are overall greater than the changes and developments in the documented, 2500-year-old carpet tradition before.
literature
- Giovanni Curatola: Carpets: materials, types of knitting, patterns, history, origin. , Delphin Verlag, Munich 1981, ISBN 3-7735-5113-4 .
- Volkmar Gantzhorn: Oriental carpets. A representation of the iconographic and iconological development from the beginnings to the 18th century. Taschen Verlag, Cologne 1998, ISBN 3-8228-0397-9 .
- Yves Mikaeloff et al. a. (Ed.): Carpets. Tradition and art in the Orient and Occident. (Original title: L'art du tapis. Editions Mengès, Paris 1996) Translation into German by Jörg Meidenbauer. Könemann, Cologne 1997, ISBN 3-89508-596-0 .
- Dyes
- MC Whiting: The Identification of Dyes in Old Oriental Textiles. ICOM Committee for Conservation, ICOM Report 78/9/2, 1978, OCLC 611034265 .
- H. Böhmer, W. Brüggemann: The chemical and botanical investigation of the colors in Anatolian carpets. In: H. Böhmer, W. Brüggemann: Carpets of the farmers and nomads in Anatolia. Art & Antiques, 1980, ISBN 978-3-921811-10-8 , pp. 88-118.
- H. Schweppe: How can you tell whether a carpet is colored with natural or synthetic dyes? Lecture at the "International Conference for Oriental Carpets", April 28 - May 1, 1978, Munich.
See also
- Me
- Persian carpet
- Yahyalı carpet
- Shaggy carpet
- Red carpet
- Child labor
- Label STEP
- Carpet beater
- Heat setting
- Rugmark
- Iranian Carpet Museum
- Tönsmann Carpet Museum
- RAL 991 A3
Web links
- German Museum Munich loom
- Deutsches Museum Munich jacquard loom
- Deutsches Museum München The Spinning Jenny by James Hargreaves
Individual evidence
- ^ Friedrich Kluge , Alfred Götze : Etymological dictionary of the German language . 20th ed., Ed. by Walther Mitzka , De Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1967; Reprint (“21st unchanged edition”) ibid 1975, ISBN 3-11-005709-3 , p. 777.
- ↑ BauNetz Media GmbH: Types and forms of textile coverings | Ground | Textile floor coverings | Baunetz_Wissen . In: Baunetz knowledge . ( baunetzwissen.de [accessed on January 18, 2018]).
- ^ Pile Carpet. In: The State Hermitage Museum. Retrieved January 18, 2018 .
- ↑ Turkish, symmetrical carpet knot
- ↑ Senneh, asymmetrical carpet knot
- ↑ Tapestry (picture knitting, tapestry) - RDK laboratory. Retrieved January 18, 2018 (German (Sie-Salutation)).
- ↑ Table cover, Maximiliaan van der Gucht (possibly), c. 1650 - c. 1675. Rijksmuseum, accessed January 18, 2018 .
- ^ Deutsches Museum: Deutsches Museum: Spinning Jenny. Retrieved January 18, 2018 .
- ↑ Company history of Schoeller / Anker
- ↑ Kultur-ost.de - Halbmond - Teppiche Ölsnitz