Mystery Rug #2

[Joe Lawrence Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Joe Lawrence]

Here is my second installment of my mystery rug series. This one is an asymmetrical open to the left example.
Other than securing the fringes with new knots and cutting a few to length, this is how the rug looked when I received it a few months ago.

Again, I went to my books and the internet and I only found one that was nearly identical but it was longer with 3 large geometrical motifs in the field instead of two. I have included a picture of it is at the bottom of the page. I contacted the seller whom is located in Turkey. The rug is just listed as a central Anatolian rug. I asked for specifics and they didn’t know. This is not that uncommon.

Although the knots are not symmetrical, I have found similar examples listed in Turkey in the areas of Sultanhan, Niğde Kars and Uşak (Oushak, Ushak). The example from Sultanhan is the closest. I have also found similarities with the Caucasian Kazak rugs. My confusion lies in the knots since both Caucasian and Turkish rugs both “mostly” contain the Turkish or Ghiordes knot.

The rug contains no red color and the overall feel is of the color palette would be described as pastel.

Size:
122 x 84 cm
48 x 33 inches

Construction:
Wool Warps
Wool Pile
Red Wefts

Knots:
Asymmetrical open left.

Colors, (9 total):
Indigo Blue
Teal
light blue
green
beige
light brown
Dark brown
Peach
white (although very minimal)

Knots:
96 KPSI
1488 KPSD

Dye: No signs of synthetic dye with zero fading. Possibly/probable natural dyes.

Attribution:
Turkish or Caucasian?

Like always, I look forward to hearing your opinions.













The below pic is the very similar example I found in Turkey. It appears to have zero pile and the pile may have been shaved at some point. This may explain the fine and clear motifs. My rugs motifs are more “fuzzy” as the pile length is much longer.

[Guest Close Guest]

Hi Joe,

I think that the wool used to make your rug was dyed with so-called chrome dyes. Here, chrome refers to the mordant rather than the chromophore. Chrome dyed colors on wool tend to be light-fast and do not run when wet. They also tend to be flatter in their visual effect (somewhat like a chemically-washed natural dye) and lacking in variation or ‘abrash.’ Although many chrome dyes were developed in the early 20th century, they do not appear to have been used much in rugs until around 1930, and after 1950 they seem to decline in popularity. As for where your Kazak style rug was made, I think Türkiye is a good bet. I’ve seen similar, circa mid-20th cenury, rugs referred to as Kars Kazaks, but I think this is a misnomer and may cause confusion with much earlier rugs with geometric designs that were made in the general vicinity of Kars.

Joseph Robert Putnak

[Joe Lawrence Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Joe Lawrence]

Thank you for your input Joseph.

[Guest Close Guest]

SAMARKAND COPY OF A CAUCASIAN RUG

[Joe Lawrence Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Joe Lawrence]

Unlikely

[Guest Close Guest]

Joe, may I ask where did you buy the little 1" numbered square you are using in your first post?

[Steve Price Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close Steve Price]

Dear Guest

You are welcome to post on Turkotek, but we insist that participants post under their actual names (see the paragraph atop this page). It happens all the time with newcomers and we don't get terribly exercised about it. But please use your name in future posts.

Thanks

Steve Price

[John Hutchinson Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close John Hutchinson]

Hello Guest -

You can buy these metal squares on Amazon. For example: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Carson-LT-2...002EANJRK?th=1

All the best,

John

[Joe Lawrence Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Joe Lawrence]

I bought mine from Amazon. Just make sure it’s the inch version if you are looking for KPSI (knots per square inch) counts. The example pictured in the link is only 3/4”. You can then convert it to Knots per Decimeter (KPSD). To convert you KPSI to KPSD simply times your Inch count by 15.5 to get the KPSD.