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Cabbbage roses in a Karabagh rug Jason Nazmiyal
cabbage rose. A rug motif based on European naturalistic rendition of a rose, usually a repeat of an overhead view of an out-sized red rose in full bloom. The roses tend to dwarf any other elements in the design. Examples may be found in Savonnerie rugs, mid-nineteenth-century Turkish rugs (Mejidian style) and nineteenth-century rugs of Karabagh and Kuba. See “farangi gul” and “rose motif.”
Cabistan, Kabistan. A term of controversial origin formerly used as an attribution for some Caucasian rugs. There is no such geographical location, and there are no certain structural or design features associated with rugs so attributed. This attribution is no longer used.
cabled, cable twist, cord. When plied yarns are plied again, the resulting yarn may be described as a “cable” or “cabled.” Heavy cabled wefts every 3 to 8 inches are used in some Mashhad carpets and Dragon carpets. These wefts are clearly visible from the back of the rug and may appear as lines of wear on the front. Cabled yarns are often used in selvages. See “ply.”
cable weft. When warps are offset or depressed, wefts are alternately straight or bending in their passage through the warps. The straight and tight weft is termed a “cable” weft and the bending weft is termed a “sinuous” weft. In some rugs, the cable weft is much thicker than the sinuous weft, thus forcing the warps apart so that the thinner sinuous weft must bend. See “thari.”
cable weft
Caesarea. See “Kayseri.”
Cairene carpets. Floral and Mamluk carpets attributed to Cairo, Egypt of the fifteenth through seventeenth centuries. These carpets are constructed with the asymmetric knot and S-spun and Z-plied yarns. See “Egypt,” “Mamluk,” “Ottoman floral carpets,” and “para-Mamluk.”
Cairene carpet (detail)
Çal. A town of southwest Anatolia where kilims and brightly colored, coarsely knotted rugs are woven.
Çal kilim (detail) Kazim Yildiz
Calcutta (now Kolkata). A city of eastern India on the Bay of Bengal. In the nineteenth century, Calcutta jail served as a collection center for rugs and dhurries woven by prisoners of other jails in India.
calligraphy. See “Arabic calligraphy and script.”
calyx. The outermost floral parts or sepals forming a cup shape. These may be shown in stylized cross section in oriental rug designs. See “Afshan” and “Rhodian lilly.”
Çamardı, Maden. A town of south central Anatolia and the source of rugs sold as “Maden.” These are prayer rugs with a red field.
camel hair. The wool or hair of the camel is used rarely in pile rug weaving and kilims. Camel hair is distinguished from wool by its fineness and pigmentation granules. The term may refer to the color of sheep wool. See “shotori.”
Campeche wood. See “Logwood.”
Çan. A town of northwestern Anatolia where rugs are woven. These rugs usually have a rust red field and green spandrels. See “Turkey.”
Çanakkale. Turkish for “pottery castle.” A town and district of northwest Anatolia, located on the Dardanelles. Rug weaving is an ancient craft in Çanakkale, some examples from the area having been woven in the fifteenth century. Rugs of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries are coarsely woven on a wool foundation with red wefts. Knot densities are about 40 to 80 symmetric knots per square inch. The number of wefts varies between rows of knots. Ends are usually a red plain weave. Within the rug trade, these rugs may be termed “Bergama.” See “Turkey.”
Çanakkale rug Simon Knight
cane pattern. A pattern of repeated stripes, each occupied by some repeated motif.
Cane patterns
canopy or standard motif. A Buddhist symbol of official authority sometimes used as a motif in Chinese rugs.
Canopy
Cappadocia. A province of central Anatolia. The town of Avanos in Cappadocia produces prayer rugs with a red field and an ornate suspended lamp. These rugs have many borders. Formerly there were Greek rug-weaving workshops in Avanos. See “Turkey.”
carbon dating rugs. Naturally occurring radio carbon 14 decays at a fixed rate. Atmospheric carbon 14 is continuously created through cosmic ray bombardment. Accordingly, the relative quantity of radio carbon 14 in samples protected from the atmosphere or bound in organic matter for long periods differs from that in the present atmosphere. By comparing the relative amounts of carbon 14 in protected samples with atmospheric carbon 14, the age of organic matter, including animal fibers can be calculated. This method is useful in dating objects up to about 60,000 years old. The age of the Pazyryk carpet, the Shroud of Turin, and many other ancient textiles was determined through radiocarbon 14 dating. See “archeological sites,” “dating rugs,” and “Pazyryk carpet.”
carding. To comb fibers prior to spinning with cards or brushes having wire bristles. Woolens are wool yarns that have been spun from carded wool. In the Near East, wool may be carded with a bow, its vibrations aligning the fibers. See “worsted.”
Carding brushes
Carding by bowing (India)
carminic acid. The essential red dye pigment of cochineal. See “cochineal.”
carnation motif. The carnation is commonly used as a motif in oriental rugs, particularly in Turkey. It appears in naturalistic renderings in Mughal carpets and it is a geometricized motif in the field of certain rugs of Kuba, in Persian rugs and Kurdish meander borders.
Carnations
Mughal
Turkish
carnation border. A meandering vine border of reversing fan-shaped carnation flowers, each separated by a diagonal leaf. This border may be more or less geometricized. It is a very common border found on rugs throughout the Middle East, including rugs of India.
Carnation border
çarpana (Turk.). Tablet weave. See “tablet weaving.”
carpet. Any fabric floor covering. Some make a distinction between carpets and rugs, the former being larger than 6 by 9 feet or 8 by 10 feet.
carpet beater. A paddle, usually made of wire or wicker, used to beat rugs to remove soil or dust. See “dusting.”
Carpet beater
carpet beetle. Attegenus piceus. A black beetle that feeds on the keratin in wool or hair when the beetle is in its larval state.
Carpet beetle
carpet loom. Generally, carpet looms differ from other basic looms only in that the frame and beam structure is of stronger members so as to tension the heavier yarns used for rug warps. The simplest form is a horizontal ground loom in which beams are attached to pegs driven into the ground. This is a primitive loom, formerly used by nomads. The horizontal frame loom con sists of frame members and beams arranged parallel to the ground. The weaver sits on the completed portion of the rug as it is woven.
Vertical looms may have fixed or roller beams. With fixed beams, a scaffold arrangement is used to raise the seat of the weaver as the work area rises on the loom. With roller beams, warp is unwound from the upper roller beam and the finished portion is wound onto the lower roller beam as the work progresses. With all looms, some device is used to maintain the tension of the warps. These include wedges, twisted ropes and levers, ratchets and pawls, screw mechanisms, turnbuckles, and weights. See “loom” and “shed.”
Carpet loom
Warp tensioning by wedges
Horizontal ground loom
carpet moth, webbing moth. Tineola bisseliella. The larval form of the moth feeds on wool or hair. Wool rugs that are out of the light are subject to infestation and damage from this insect.
Carpet moth
carpet page. Pages of illuminated manuscript of the Hiberno-Saxon school of the eighth and nineth centuries. The pages are covered with intricate interlacing and scroll work, sometimes including ciphers. The designs suggest arabesques in carpets.
Carpet page from the Book of Kells
carpet slave. A decorative weight placed on a rug to keep it flat and prevent it from shifting. Used in India.
carpet tiles. Any power-loomed carpet cut in squares and finished so that the squares can be butted to cover larger areas.
carthamin. The essential yellow dye pigment derived from the safflower. See “safflower.”
cartoon. A grid on paper with cells colored to guide rug weavers in selecting colored pile yarns when tying knots to execute a rug design. Usually, each cell represents a knot. See “buli,” “design plate,” “loom drawing,” “naqsh,” and “talim.”
Carpet loom with cartoon Azerbaijan Rugs
cartouche. An enclosed area in the field or border of a rug, often containing an inscription, though other design elements may be so enclosed. The outline of the cartouche is usually a rectangle with rounded, cut, or scalloped corners. See “inscription.”
Cartouche border. Any border containing repeated cartouches or cartouches alternating with other design elements.
Cartouche border
cartouche carpet. See “compartment rug.”
Casablanca. A city of Morocco, a source of contemporary factory rugs. See “Morocco.”
casemaking moth. Tinea pellionella. The larvae of this moth feed on wool and hair. Wool rugs that are out of the light are subject to infestation and damage from this insect.
cashmere. See “Kashmir goat.”
castellated border. See “crenellated border.”
çatal (Turk.). A tool used to beat down weft.
Çatal Hüyük. The site of a neolithic settlement in central Anatolia. Archaeological excavation has uncovered painted walls and artifacts. Carbonized fabric from this site has been identi fied as linen. Images and designs suggest the worship of a mother goddess. James Mellaart, an archaeologist who worked at this site, theorized that some designs in contemporary Anatolian kilims are ultimately derived from these neolithic images of a mother goddess. This theory is disputed and the credibility of Mellaart’s archaeological evidence has been challenged. See “elibelinde.”
catechu dye, cutch. This brown dye is made from the heartwood of Acacia catechu, a tree. Catechu dye was used in rugs of India.
caterpillar rugs. A nineteenth-century American rug consisting of accordion-folded strips of fabric stitched to a fabric backing.
çatma, chatma. Orginally, an Ottoman fabric in which the motif was brocaded in silver-wrapped thread, rendered in raised velvet. Generally, a technically superior and dense form of velvet. Cushion covers were made from this fabric. Some yastik designs may derive from these cushion covers. See “kadife.”
Çatma panel (detail) Sothebys
Caucasus. Formerly, southern Russia, an area bounded by the Caspian Sea on the east and the Black Sea on the west. The Caucasus mountain range, from the northwest to the southeast, diagonally divides the region. The area south of the mountain range is termed the Transcaucasus. This is the primary rug-producing area. The population is of varied ethnic origin. Rugs and carpets are woven by Azeri Turks, Kurds, and Armenians. Travelers refer to rug production in the Caucasus in the fifteenth century, and there are Dragon carpets from the seventeenth century attributed to the Caucasus. Rug production was a major cottage industry in the nineteenth century.
Rugs are brightly colored and generally have geometric designs. The symmetric knot is used with average knot densities ranging from 60 per square inch for Kazaks to 114 per square inch for Kuba rugs. Pile is wool. Warps are undyed. With few exceptions, these rugs have two or more wefts between each row of knots. Rugs with cotton foundations from the Caucasus have higher knot densities than those with wool foundations.
There is contemporary pile rug production in cooperative rug factories in Azerbaijan, Daghestan, and Armenia. The largest producer is Armenia. Designs are traditional or modern variations of traditional designs. Depending on commercial grade, knot densities vary from 78 knots per square inch to 162 knots per square inch. Export of these rugs was handled by a division of the Russian agency, Novoexport. After export, these rugs receive a chemical wash to improve their color tone and and color contrast.
The CAUCASUS in the 19th Century
See the following geographical entries:
| Abkhazia | Goradis |
| Akstafa, | Karabagh |
| Armenia | Kazak |
| Azerbaijan | Konaghend |
| Baku | Kuba |
| Chelabi, | Lenkoran |
| Chondzoresk | Lori Pambak |
| Daghestan | Marasali |
| Dara Chichi | Moghân |
| Derbend | Shamshadnee |
| Dilijan | Shemakha |
| Echmiadzin | Surakhany |
| Elisavetpol | Shirvân |
| Erivan | Talish |
| Genje | Zakatala |
Caucasian flatweaves. Caucasian kilims and palases are usually woven as a single piece. The slit weave tapestry structure is used. Warp ends are knotted to produce a web effect. Motifs consist of adjacent or compacted large geometric medallions suggesting palmettes or rows of smaller geometric motifs. A few kilims consist of all-over patterns of small, repeated geometric elements. Colors are bright and contrasting. Regional attribution of kilims within the Caucasus is problematic, despite trade designations such as “Kuba,” “Shirvân,” or “Talish.”
Soumak bags and mafrash are attributed to Kurdish weavers in the Caucasus and similar pieces to the Shahsavan in Iran. Large soumaks were woven throughout the Caucasus, many of them from Kuba. Common designs in the nineteenth century were a vertically repeated diamond medallion alternating with two hexagons or circular motifs, and dragon soumaks based on the pile dragon rugs. A design of large “S” shapes thought to represent drag ons was woven with the soumak structure. See “arbabash,” “dava ghin,” “dragon soumaks,” “dum,” “istang,” “kiyiz,” “sileh,” and “verneh.”
C.E. Common era. Used as a religiously neutral replacement for A. D. in date designation.
çeki tülü. See “tülü.”
cemetery carpet. See “landscape carpet.”
centaury. Centaurea acaulis, a plant whose roots are used for a yellow dye.
Centaury
centimeter. See “conversion factors.”
Central Asia. See “Eastern Turkestan” and “Western Turkestan.”
cerga, tsherga. A Bulgarian goat-hair flatweave of woven strips sewn together.
çeyrek (Turk., “quarter”). A Turkish term for village rugs of about 2.5 by 4.5 feet.
“C” gul. A Turkmen octagon gul in which C-shapes or crescents are arranged, with crescents facing both left and right. This gul is found in Yomud rugs.
“C” gul
Chahal Shotur, Chehel Shotur (Persian, “forty camels”). A town of Iran west of Isfahan and a source of Bakhtiari rugs with a compartmented garden design.
Chahar aimaq. See “Aimaq.”
chahar bagh (Persian, “quartered garden”). The design of compartmented carpets with the layout of a formal Persian garden. See “garden carpet.”
Chahâr Mahâl (Persian, “four places”). A region of western Iran between Isfahan and the Zagros Mountains. The area is controlled by the Bakhtiaris. Rugs marketed as “Bakhtiari” are woven by natives of the area, who are not members of the Bakhtiari tribe. The “four places” are the towns and districts of Shahr-e Kord, Borujen, Farâhân, and Lordakân. See “Bakhtiari,” “khod rang,” and “Shahr-e Kord.”
Chahâr-râ (Persian chahâr-râh “crossroads”). A district of Hamadan in Iran and the source of rugs with a black ground. Knots are symmetric on a cotton foundation with single wefts.
chain. A term for foundation warp in power-loomed pile carpets.
chain stitch. A stitch consisting of successive loops, the needle passing through each loop at the same relative position. The chain stitch is used for decorative purposes and sometimes to lock the final weft in place at the end of a rug. Rugs embroidered with chain-stitching are commercially produced in India.
Chain stitch
chair covers, throne back. A Chinese or Tibetan special-purpose pile weaving consisting of two pieces, one for the back and the other for the bottom of the chair. The piece for the back is usually scalloped. See “thigyarbya.”
Chair back Ningxia
Chajli. A group of nineteenth-century rugs attributed to Shirvân in the Caucasus that display three or more large octagonal medal lions. The medallions often resemble rectangles with clipped corners rather than true octagons. The medallions are in alter nating light and dark colors. Knot density is about 100 symmetric knots per square inch. Their average area is about 40 square feet. Wefts may be cotton or wool. See “Caucasus” and “Shirvân.”
Chajli medallion
Chajli rug (detail) James Allen
Chakesh. A tribe of the Ersari located around Aq Chah in Afghanistan. The tribe weaves rugs in red and blue using traditional guls.
Chakhansur. A town in southwestern Afghanistan bordering Iran. Baluchi rugs of this area are finely knotted. Small, packed geometric elements are used in the field. Colors are dark brown, blue, and black with some red. See “Afghanistan.”
chaklâ (Hindi). A cloth of silk and cotton.
chalat. See “khalat.”
chalik. See “khalyk.”
chamomile. Anthemis tinctoria, a flowering plant that may be used to produce a yellow dye.
Chamomile
Chamtos border. A border used by the Salor Turkmen consisting of small rectangles arranged as diamonds with a mosaic effect.
Chamtos border
Ch’ang. The Chinese endless knot and the Buddhist symbol for destiny, eternity, or longevity. This knot is used as a motif in some Chinese rugs.
Ch’ang
Chan-Karabagh. A Caucasian rug type, identified by Schürmann, with a design consisting of large botehs. See “Karabagh.”
chanteh (Persian). A small bag or satchel.
Qashga’i chanteh Simon Knight
chapan. A Turkmen or Uzbeki long-sleeved robe, often of silk and embroidered or of silk ikat. See “chirpy” and “khalat.”
Chapan Grogan and Company
Chardjou (Persian Châr-juy, “four streams”). A town in Turkmenistan on the Amu Darya inhabited by Ersaris. Contemporary rugs from this area are woven with the Tekke gul and variations. Pile rugs are woven in two knot densities: one of about 55 knots per square inch and the other of about 120 knots per square inch.
Charshango, Charchangu, Charchangi. A town of northern Afghanistan. A term for rugs thought to be woven by a subtribe of the Salor or Ersari. The tribe inhabits an area on either side of the Amu Darya in Turkestan and Afghanistan.
chatma. See “çatma.”
Chaudor, Chodor. A Turkmen tribe inhabiting the Khiva area of Turkestan. The ertman and tauk noska guls are used in their rugs, as well as a variety of other designs. The field color is often a distinctive purple-brown. These rugs have asymmetric knots, open to the right. Wefts are two-ply, sometimes wool and sometimes cotton. See “ertman gul” and “Turkmen.”
Chaudor main carpet (detail) Sothebys
chavadan, shabadan, shavadan. A Kirghiz long kit bag.
Chavadan face Carpet Collection
Chechens, Tchetchens, Krists. A people of northwest Daghestan (now the Chechniya Region) in the Caucasus. They are Sunni Muslims, fiercely independent and egalitarian. The term, “Chichi,” applied to certain rug designs, is thought to derive from the name of this ethnic group. Whether rugs ascribed to this group were actually woven by them is problematic. See “Chichi.”
check border. A very common minor border, especially in Kazak and Kurdish rugs
Check border
Chehel Shotur. See “Chahal Shotur.”
Chelaberd, Eagle Kazak, Sunburst Kazak, Adler Kazak. Nineteenth-century rugs of Karabagh in the Caucasus with a medallion consisting of a lozenge with parallel radiating arms. Hooked brackets, facing outwards, are above and below the medallion. The design is thought to derive from Dragon carpets. Chelabi is a town of southern Karabagh. Chelaberd is a corruption of that name. There are seventeenth-century Caucasian carpets with this medallion. These rugs are published most frequently as representative of the Caucasus. Their average knot density is about 60 symmetric knots per square inch and the average rug area is about 35 square feet. They have an all-wool foundation. See “Caucasus,” “Dragon car pet,” and “Karabagh.”
Chelaberd Karabagh Jason Nazmiyal
Chelsea Carpet. A sixteenth-century rug in the Victoria and Albert Museum, thought to have been woven in India or Herat. It has a cloud band border and multiple medallions. Birds and animals are represented in the field. It is 17 feet 9 inches by 10 feet 4 inches.
Chelsea carpet (detail)
Chemche gul. Chemche means “spoon” or “scoop.” A common minor or secondary gul in Turkmen rugs. It consists of a quartered diamond and may have eight radiating arms, alternately terminating in the ram’s horn motif.
Chemche gul
chemche torba (Turk). Spoon bag. See “spoon bag.”
chemical wash. The application of chemicals (sometimes lime, chlorine compounds, or wood ash) to a rug to soften colors, soften the wool, and increase the sheen of the pile. Harsh chemical washes are cited as the cause of weakened or embrittled fibers in some old rugs. See “burning.”
Chenâr, Çinar (Turk.). A town of Hamadan in Iran. It is a source of rugs and runners with vertically arranged, large diamond medallions. Also the name of the Asian plane tree (sycamore) and the name of a Turkmen design derived from the shape of the leaf, chenâr gul.
chenille rug. A fabric of warps holding cut wefts is slit, warp-wise, into strips. These strips of warp with cut weft are then woven into the rug to form cut pile.
Chenille panel Grogan and Company
Cherkess, Circassian, Tcherkess. A Caucasian ethnic group including the Kabardians and Abkhazians. They inhabit the north western Caucasus. They are Sunni Muslims. These people may have been a minor source of rugs in the nineteenth century.
cherlyk (Turk.). Saddle cover. See “saddle cover.”
chessboard. Any design of offset rows of adjacent rectangles, each rectangle alternating in color with vertical columns of rectangles, also alternating in color. This design is found in Chinese and Tibetan rugs. Usually, such Tibetan rugs are without borders. See “sadranji.”
Chessboard Qashga’i kilim (detail) Southebys
Chessboard rugs, Damascus carpets. A group of 16th and 17th-century rugs. The field design is usually rows of hexagons, each containing small fish-like shapes radiating from a complex central star. The hexagons are in square compartments which are outlined by red bands. Chessboard rugs have asymmetric knots open to the left with Z-spun yarns. These rugs have been attributed to Cairo, Damascus, and Anatolia. They have been termed “Damascus rugs.” See “Cairene rugs,” “compartment rug,” “Egypt,” “Mamluk,” and “para-Mamluk.”
Chessboard rug (detail)
chi. A coiled cloud or a shell-like motif used in Chinese rugs. See “ruyi.”
Chi
Chiadma. A tribe of southwest Morocco. Their rugs have a burgundy field with scattered diamonds or small geometric elements. Their flatweaves employ the slit tapestry structure.
chichak lameh. A design motif, flower and bud, used primarily by Turkish-speaking weavers. It consists of a single flower with leaves or buds on both sides springing from the same stem. There are many geometric versions of this motif.
Chichak lameh
Chichaktu, Chichaksu, Tchitchaktu. A town of northern Afghani stan. Major rug production began in this town in the early 1970s. The designs used are prayer rugs and variations of ensi designs. Colors are dark, similar to Baluchi rugs. The asymmetric knot is used on a wool foundation.
Chichaoua. See “Oulad Bou Sbâa.”
Chichi. A design attributed to Kuba in the Caucasus. The distinctive border consists of diagonal bars alternating with large blossoms. Kuba rugs with this border have a mean knot density of 105 symmetric knots per square inch. Their average area is 25 square feet. Wefts may be either cotton or wool. See “Chechens,” “Dara-chichi,” and “Kuba.”
Chichi rug (detail) Grogan & Company
Chichi border. A distinctive border of Kuba rugs of the Caucasus attributed to the Chechens. It consists of a diagonal bar alternating with a large geometricized rosette.
Chichi border
Chief’s blanket. A flatweave blanket woven by Navajos with simple designs. This blanket is narrower warp-wise than it is weft-wise. Colors are some combination of red, black, blue, or brown on a white field. There were no chiefs among the Navajo, but these blankets did indicate some prestige because they were finely woven.
Chief’s blankets are classified in three phases according to design evolution. First phase design consists of stripes only. Second phase design consists of stripes with blocks or groups of rectangles inserted within the stripes. Third phase design consists of diamonds or crosses superimposed over stripes. Third phase designs were created after the Navajo internment at Bosque Redondo. See “Navajo rugs” and “serape.”
Chief’s blankets
chikh. See “reed screens.”
Chila, Khila. A town west of Baku in the Caucasus, to which are attributed nineteenth-century rugs with an all-over boteh field with stepped spandrels and containing a stepped central medallion. These are the largest of Baku rugs with an average rug area of 41 square feet. They have wool warps and either wool or cotton wefts. Their mean knot density is 88 symmetric knots per square inch. See “Baku.”
Chila rug (detail) Sothebys
Chila-boteh. See “Chila.”
child’s serape. A Navajo wearing blanket about 2½ feet by 4 feet. See “Navajo rugs.”
Child’s serape Grogan and Company
chilin. See “ky’lin.”
Chilkat. Indians of the Pacific Northwest. They weave fabrics on warp-weighted looms using a weft twining structure.
Chilkat apron R. John Howe
Chimayó. A town of New Mexico and a source of rugs and blankets of Navajo design. These are primarily stripes and diamonds.
China. Rugs of China are considered to include those of Manchu ria, Mongolia, and Xinjiang. Rugs were primarily woven in northern China. A Chinese saddle blanket from Lop Sanpra was dated to about 100 B.C.E. A few pile rugs have been dated to the Ming dynasty. Domestic pile rug production in China was quite small until production for export began in about 1890. Rug-weaving centers predating rug production for export include Ningxia, Baotou, Suiyuan, and the towns of Gansu. See entries under these names.
Commercial rug production for export began late in the nineteenth century in Beijing and about the turn of the century in Tianjin. Tianjin became the center of large-scale commercial production from about 1910 to 1930 as foreign firms came to dominate the Chinese rug industry. American firms in China included Karagheusin, A. Beshar & Co., Donchian, Avanosian, Kent-Costikyan, Elbrook Inc., Nichols Super Yarn, and Fette-Li. Throughout the early twentieth century, the United States was the largest importer of Chinese rugs. The peak period of rug production and shipment to the United States was 1925. In the early 1930s, rug production was interrupted by the Japanese invasion. Large-scale commercial production was not resumed until the 1960s.
Chinese rugs use the asymmetric knot with occasional use of the symmetric knot in edges and ends of early examples. Chinese rugs are not finely knotted, varying between 30 and 120 knots per square inch. Some early Chinese rugs have asymmetric knots that are offset on warps or skip warps at curving borders of color changes. See “offset knots” and “packing knots.” Early rugs have no warp offset, while later rugs have offset warps, some with closed backs.
Contemporary Chinese rugs are woven in cooperative factories. There is consistent quality in these rugs due to the use of steel looms, chrome dyes, and objective production standards. The “line” is the contemporary measure of knot density. See “line.” Woolen carpets are woven in 70, 80, 90, and 120-line qualities. Silk rugs are woven in 120 to 300-line qualities. Pile heights for wool rugs are ⅜, ½, and ⅝ inch. The pile height for silk rugs is ½ inch. The Chinese rug trade designation “Super” means a 90-line rug with ⅝ inch pile height and a closed back.
See “Buddhist symbols,” “chair covers,” “Ch’ing dynasty,” “closed back,” “Confucian symbols,” “Fette rugs,” “fret rugs,” “k’ang covers,” “line,” “Ming dynasty,” “Nichols,” “open back,” “pillar rug,” “Taoist symbols,” “trigram,” and “yin yang.”
See the following geographic entries: Baotou, Beijing, Gansu, Guizhou, He-bei, Jehol, Lop Nor, Lop Sanpra, Mongolia, Ningxia, Niya, Shanghai, Shantung, Suiyuan, Tianjin, Xinjiang.
China
chinakap, chinikap. A Turkmen cup or bowl case. This may be a bag or a bowl-shaped container with a lid and a pendant strap. It has an overall length of about one foot. Chinakaps are made of pile, embroidered cloth, wood, or leather.
Chinakap
Chindi drugget. A drugget made of waste fabric. See “drugget.”
chiné. A ply of yarns of different, but similar or closely related colors.
Chinese fret. A repeat pattern consisting of linked swastikas.
Chinese fret
Chinese tapestry weave. See “k’o-ssu.”
Ch’ing dynasty. The Ch’ing or Manchu dynasty governed China from 1644 to 1912. Most of the older surviving pile Chinese carpets date from this period; large-scale rug production was introduced in about 1890. See “Ming dynasty.”
chinikap. See “chinakap.”
Chinle. A Navajo reservation area of east central Arizona. From the 1930s, Navajo weavers of the area wove rugs without borders and with horizontal bands in an effort to revive 19th century designs. Colors are earth tones from vegetable and synthetic dyes.
Chinle Navajo rug Steve Getzwiller
chintamani, badge of Tamerlane (Turk.). Ottoman court motif of a triangular arrangement of three balls above two cloudbands or waves. A repeat pattern of groups of three balls only may also be termed “chintamani.” Also referred to as the “badge of Tamerlane.” The motif was widely used in Ottoman ceramics and weavings from the fifteenth to the seventeenth century. This motif is probably of Buddhist or Chinese origin.
Chintamani
Chintamani Ushak. A rare group of sixteenth and seventeenth-century rugs from Ushak in Anatolia. These rugs have a white ground and an all-over pattern of the chintamani motif, a repeated figure of three balls in a pyramidal arrangement over two wavy lines or cloudbands. See “Ushak.”
Chiprovtsi carpet. A handmade carpet of Bulgaria, the name is from the town of Chiprovtsi where their production started in the 17th century. The carpet is two-sided with both sides having an identical design.
chirpy. A Tekke Turkmen woman’s cloak, often of embroidered silk. The chirpy has false sleeves sewed to the shoulder. The ground color is matched to the age of the wearer: yashl chirpy (green chirpy) for young women, sary chirpy (yellow chirpy) for middle-aged women, and ak chirpy (white chirpy) for old women. See “chapan” and “khalat.”
Chirpy R. John Howe
Chob Bash. See “Chub-bash.”
chobi (Persian) “colored like wood.” Describing Afghanistan and Pakistan rugs in shades of light brown or tan.
Chodor. See “Chaudor.”
Chondzoresk, Cloudband Kazak. Chondzoresk or Khondzoresk is a village south of Shusha in southern Karabagh in the Caucasus. Khondzor is Armenian for “apple.” Nineteenth century rugs of this design have one or more medallions containing motifs simi lar to cloudbands. The mean knot density of these rugs is 58 symmetric knots per square inch. These are the smallest rugs of Karabagh, with an average size of 33 square feet. See “Caucasus” and “Karabagh.”
Chondzoresk Kazak Grogan and Company
Chosroes, Spring Carpet of. See “Spring Carpet of Chosroes.”
