From Tibetan Decò Rugs to Ziegler

Tibetan Rugs Decò

Recent artifacts from Tibet, usually hand knotted, the themes of which recall  the art deco style, rather elegant and refined, with a small, dense knot, and low shave. The weft and warp are in cotton, while for the fleece, with subjects in silk, one has used the Yak’s  precious wool  and the Plateau Sheep’s one that live on the highlands of Tibet at 3,000 metres of altitude.

Tibetan saddles

They are among the few types of knotted, that we in the West use today as rugs,  for hanging on walls, etc., that have not undergone the influence of the West. For the Tibetan people horses are the main means of communication. They live in a region that is on the roof of the world, isolated from the other countries, without any means of transport and have no other choice but to use the horse or mule to move. An animal so important that they cover it with fine saddle rugs decorated with artistic and cultural motifs. In Tibetan saddles one can also find Buddhist and Taoist symbols, the four symbols of the well-educated person (chess, books, musical instruments and materials for painting), as well as flowers and birds.

Torba

It is so called a kind of bag used by the Turkmen tribes as container.

Tree of life

We find it frequently in prayer rugs. It is an ancient oriental prosperity and fertility symbol.  It is interpreted frequently as a symbol of the axis of the world, because it connects the three cosmic levels that make up the universe: underground, terrestrial and celestial. For its rich symbolic meaning it therefore appears often in prayer rugs, in more or less stylized interpretations. You can see some examples of the tree of life  in these Rugs: Saruk Farahan W. Legends, Kashkuli Antico.

Tuareg mats

The mats Tuareg are old manufacturing pieces, originally used by the Tuaregs during the caravans stops. They are made of palm wood, cut into strips and camel skin, the colours are natural. The natural pigments with which they were painted can only be glimpsed. These pieces usually come from Mauritania and have for some years been known in the West for their geometric lines and Tuareg symbols that make them very “modern” (although part of the millennial Tuareg tradition and now disappeared).

Tufted Tecnique

It is a technique to make rugs without knots. The wool to create the fleece is inserted without knots on an already prepared with wefts and warps cotton structure, as the wefts to do the “little point”. Once the rug is finished  a glue is spread on the back to fix everything. Sometimes silicone is also used to make the mat less rigid. Subsequently, a canvas is glued on the back to cover the glue and then it is shaved. There is one small problem: with time the glue crumbles and you find it under the rug as if you had spilled a bag of cornmeal;  it also sheds hair and gives off odour. Often, when washing, the cloth comes off, the rug loses consistency and create waves. Last thing: usually, being a very commercial, cheap product, the wool is very poor.

Tuli, Shaggy and Tuli Surf rugs

Modern Indian Rugs also called “spaghetti” for the bulk polyester thread held  5 cm long that forms the fleece, if you can call it so. There are also some which are knotted very well, but also made with the  “tufted” technique and then glued on the back.

Tullu, tulu, tolu, tollu rugs

They are knotted tribal Turkish rugs with a soft 10-15 cm fleece, sometimes in Angora wool and very simple geometric design used as blankets.

Turkbaft or turkbaff

Another name for the symmetrical Turkish knot called Ghiordes in which the thread wraps two chains of adjacent warp coming out between them to form the fleece.

Tuti kilim

They are of Turkmen origin, with tribal decorations, used to divide the Yurta’s different areas.

Ushak, Usciak or Uşak

The city is located in the centre-western part of the Anatolian peninsula. They are historic rugs for Turkey, because, since the sixteenth century,  Ottoman manufactures produced rugs of the highest level both with medallions and prayer; quality that, unfortunately, in the nineteenth century became poorer producing coarse rugs with mediocre wool.

Ustad

He is the master artisan who creates the rug’s designs and prepares the sample cardboard.

Uzbek Shirvan rug

Very fine rug with a low shave, a new production knotted in Pakistan with the subjects and the structure in wool with design similar to the ancient Caucasian rugs. A reproduction of the real Shirvan.

Vaghireh, Vagireh

Small rugs that are real champions for weaving. The Vaghireh contains different types of frame and parts subject for cantonal, medallions etc. which are usually a quarter of the drawing; In Vaghireh the weaver can count the knots needed and draw inspiration to make the whole rug. Normally they are for the female weavers’ personal use, and sometimes they are provided by the companies that commission the rugs. Among old and antique Vaghireh  there are really beautiful and rare collectible pieces.

Varamin kilim

They are those in the Varamin area, south of Tehran; they are made of a very fine and compact weave with rows of horizontal hexagons, with lozenges inside, divided by often different bands and multicoloured stripes. Exemplars of  old Varamin kilims.

Varamin carpets or rugs

The Varamin carpets ( or Veramin rugs ) are knotted in wool on a cotton structure, in the colours of red, blue, salmon and ocher. They show full-field  designs, often without medallions, with the mina-Khani motif repeated with flowers arranged in groups and one motif superimposed in the central field or with many small medallions, subjects that reflect a bit ‘the ancient Tehran rugs, capital city not too far from the town of Varamin. There are also old kilim examples in this area, but usually the most beautiful are elongated, difficult to include in Western homes. Exemplars of Varamin  carpets 

Verneh

Old manufacture Caucasian fabric with parts  decorated at soumak-like wrapped weft, usually quite fine.

Wool for rugs

The animals from which we get wool for rugs are the goat, camel, llama, sheep, alpaca, vicuna, Angora rabbit. The animal from which it is derived depends very much on the country, but in general the wool used is from sheep and goats. Camel wool also is rather used primarily for beige and light brown.

Woven Legends Collection

They are part of this collection  recent manufacture Turkish rugs that reproduce the most beautiful ancient specimens in history: Caucasian, Persian, Turkish, Mamluk  rugs, , etc. They’re superior examples of recent manufacture that faithfully reproduce the most beautiful ancient specimens in history really using the techniques of the past. With the industrial revolution and the demand for more and more rugs at a lower cost the ancient craft of weaving has been increasingly getting worse. The natural dye was virtually extinct, the rugs had become simply  “hand knotted in series” and in which the highest priority is given to cost reduction rather than an artistic vision. After many decades, from the 80’s of the last century in Turkey rugs are knotted with the same characteristics as those of past centuries: using vegetable dyes, hand-spun wools and antique techniques, respecting  traditions. The Woven Legends Rugs Collection, artifacts that bring back the connection between commerce and art. In our collection you’ll find splendid examples of Kazaks, Karaciofs and Celaberds, Chi Chis and Kuba Kuba Seichurs, Kazaks and Shirvans, Saruks, Farahans and Mamluks.

Warp

The set of longitudinal threads that form the basic structure in the rugs; it is tensioned between the loom’s two beams before starting to knot and on which subsequently the knots will be fixed.  For the warp are used wool, cotton, silk or other fibres. Later, when the rug is completed, the ends of the warp will form the fringes.

Yalameh rugs

They’re woven in the southwestern part of the Chahar Mahal, around the town of Talkuncheh. They are made on a wool structure, with symmetrical/ asymmetrical knotting alternately, fine on average. The wool’s fleece is fine and extremely shiny, almost silky: this detail adds much more value to the rugs on the market. They are characterized by bright colours with a strong contrast. The most usual pattern provides columns of rhomboidal medallions with the profiles crossed by “dyrnak” similar to those of Lori rugs, but more complex and elaborate: often they have smaller medallions inside. The minute and asymmetric decorations that adorn the field, recall  those of the Qashqai rugs. Until about ten years ago they were among the most sold and better quality Persian rugs,  but with the advent of the Pakistani productions with Caucasians designs at a lower price they are no longer requested, as they were, even if they are of much higher quality.

Yamani kilim

Plain, tribal, Kurdish fabric of the Caucasian area characterized by bright colours and very simple subjects.

Yamta  Nepalese 60 and 80 line rugs

It is hand-knotted in Nepal, wool on wool and with excellent wool; so it is very sturdy and does not shed hair. The density of knots, compared to the average of Nepalese rugs is rather high: 120 per dmq. It is characterized by the warm and very pleasant colours and soft wool with which it is knotted. They, in fact, use hand twisted Yak wool mixed with the precious wool of Tibetan Plateau Sheep and with silk in some areas . The subjects were created by Italian designers. The “carving”  effect,  typical of  Nepalese rugs, contributes to give prominence to the rug’s different colours.

Yastik Yastik, Poshti, Pushti

Little, commercial type Turkish rugs, about cm 50×90 which, sometimes, have Kilims’ parts in them.

Yatak

They are so called , in Turkish, the Anatolian gabbeh rugs.

Yomut Tekke Rugs

There are old and antique, mostly in traditional brick-coloured or dark red, adorned by octagonal, bevelled gul connected by thin black lines to form a grid in whose mesh are inserted minor cross guls. They were knotted by the Turkmen Tekke tribe living in the Merv and Achal regions, in southern Turkmenistan

Yurt, Yurta

It is nothing but the round tent of the nomads of Turkmenistan; it has a domed roof with a hole to let the smoke out and it is covered with felts.

Z-ply

It is a yarn, composed of several threads, which is twisted to the left. It is taken from the Anglo-Saxon language.

Zangireh

Is also called the “chain”, it is the one that the restorer of rugs makes to the headers, that is, the sides of the fringes, to block the terminal wefts in such a way that the rug will not come apart and will not lose more knots.

Zanjan rugs

They come from the area around the city of Zanjan (or Zenjan) located in the most northern part of Iran. They have quite tribal characteristics, with subjects with stylized,  geometrical so-called “diamond” medallion. They reflect the influence of Hamadan and for this they already have certain Kurdish stylistic features, such as the multiplicity of colours.

Zaronim

Persian term formed by two words: one=zar and half=nim. Used in rugs with a m.1 x1,5 m measure.

Zemmour rug

It comes from the region of the same name – Middle Atlas – with the typical red colour and almost symmetrical  design. The wool is very soft and the fleece bottom. The oriental-inspired, regular design makes it suitable for both classic and modern furnishings.

Zenaga rugs

From the region of the far south of Morocco it is part for colours, knot and wool of the High Atlas tradition. The colours are usually yellow and not infrequently black, obtained with natural colours also with the use of saffron, almost always also used for the weft and the warp. The motifs are classic Berber but usually divided into fields also boxed. The fringes traditionally are only on one side. There are also symbols of oriental inspiration. The knot is symmetrical while the fleece is low.

Ziegler and Ziegler Farahan

It is a beautiful type of rugs, hand knotted in the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The floral subject is inspired by the rugs knotted in the late 1800s and early 1900s in the area of Arak, in Iran, in the Anglo-Swiss company Ziegler and Co manufacturing plant where, at the time worked 2500 weavers. In many of these the design recalls  the ancient Indian Agra. It uses only hand twisted Ghazni wool for a very bright silky effect. The colours are vegetable based. The Ziegler Farahan are superior quality and have the finest knotting and decorative designs with the finest colours.