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2500 years old knots

Carpets are made of thousands of knots, patiently made one after one with woollen threads or similar; and the most ancient in the world is more or less 2500 years old.

Author: Lia Contesso
Date: Jun 21, 2010 - 10:06:31 AM

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In 1929 two Russian scientists, Sergej Rudenko and Mikhail Griaznov, found themselves in front of what would have been recognized as the most ancient carpet ever found in the world; the two scientists discovered five tumulus during the excavations in the border area between Russia and Mongolia, dating back to the V-VI century B.C.; inside one of the five graves, the chief of the tribe’s, there was a carpet that has been denominated Pazyryk, discovered under a block of ice: this made the conservation possible for more than two millenniums and a half.

Luckily, the Pazyryk carpet has not been discovered by the looters that plundered the graves in the various époques to rob them of the treasures that they often contained: had they found it, it would probably have been lost, or, anyway, it would not have arrived till our times conserved like it is thanks to its lucky conservation under the block of ice. This carpet measures 200x182 cm, and each square meter has 360 thousand turkibaft knots (the typical ones of the Turkish area). The drawing has a central area with a border formed of various frames; while the central drawing is geometrical, the frames represent elks, horsemen and gryphon.

The fact of having found such an ancient carpet demonstrates that the use of carpets dates back to ancient times and, most of all, it demonstrate that the capability of knotting elaborated carpets had been already acquired in those times, and from hence it has been transmitted and improved; the same scientist that found the Pazyryk carpet, Rudenko, some years after the first great archaeological find discovered another carpet, about in the same area, with an even finer work: its knots were 700 thousand for each square meter.
There are different kinds of carpets you can find in commerce nowadays; the most valuable are the ancient ones, of course, and their origin are mostly in the areas of Turkey, Iran, Morocco, China or Caucasus, and they obviously are unique pieces, handworks made with techniques that vary depending on the area and the period. The kilim carpets, for example, origin in the area between Caucasus and Iran, and are characterized by geometrical drawings realized using the coloured threads of the texture; the kilim carpets, diversely from the knotted ones, are formed by weaved threads that originate a drape with an even surface, its thickness depending on the threads used.

The knotted carpets, instead, are made of three layers: the fleece, that is the most superficial layer, is formed by short woollen threads, knotted on the warp, the second layer, formed by parallel threads disposed vertically. The last thread is the texture: this is made of the cotton threads disposed among the various rows of knots. The knotting work is meticulous, precise and for it manual skills and much patience are needed; but the result obtained is durable and is a fine quality work.

  This article was written by Lia Contesso, with support from tapestries and textiles. For any information please visit antique chinese rugs, or visit interior decorating rugs.

View all articles by Lia Contesso

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