Modern Turkish Rugs

Ege No 1 kilim rug is part of a series of kilims that reflect an admiration for the visual and emotional expressiveness of the sea surface, with its fluid movements, and hues of color reflections that create a relaxing effect on the human psyche. Having blue Aegean Sea as its muse, the name for this kilim rug series is Ege, the Turkish name for Aegean. Ege is a series of kilim rugs that merge the sensibilities of centuries old craft traditions of Anatolian kilim weaving...

A vintage Turkish flat-weave Kilim room-size carpet in square format handmade during the mid-20th century with a colorful contemporary pattern in a tribal manner. The overall effect ...

A vintage Turkish area rug over-dyed in gray color The rug is finely hand-knotted, heavy, lays flat on the floor and has low wool pile on cotton foundation. It is deep-washed, in goo...

Ege No 3 kilim rug is part of a series of kilims that reflect an admiration for the visual and emotional expressiveness of the sea surface, with its fluid movements, and hues of colo...

Ege No 1 kilim rug is part of a series of kilims that reflect an admiration for the visual and emotional expressiveness of the sea surface, with its fluid mov...

A modern Turkish room size carpet with a diagonally hooked pattern in black and white over a beige ground handmade during the 21st century. Measures: 8' 6" x 12' 2".

A modern Turkish room size carpet with a contemporary pattern consisting of colorful stripes over a salt and pepper ground handmade during the 21st cen...

A vintage Turkish Anatolian rug in runner format handmade during the mid-20th century. Measures: 2' 7" x 7' 4" Turkish rugs & carpets: Until the Great Persian Carpet Revival in the later 19th century, the “Oriental rug” was Turkish. For nearly six centuries, Turkish rugs, both scatter, room size, and even larger, thoroughly dominated the European import market. Whereas the Persian carpet can be divided into urban, village, and tribal types, in Turkey and its predecessor the Ottoman Empire, rugs almost exclusively came from village weavers and from a small number of urban workshops. Ninety percent village, nine percent city, one percent tribal. Turkish weavers have, with very few exceptions, always worked with the symmetric (Turkish) knot. Wool foundations are standard practice among both town and village weavers. The exceptions, very finely woven 20th century and recent Herekeh silks from near Istanbul, and early 17th century Ottoman Court rugs from Bursa, constitute only a tiny part of the total. Always pricey, they appealed and still appeal to the clients who want lots of knots and perfect execution instead of individual personality. The urban workshops have been centered around the western Turkish city of Oushak and its attendant port town of Smyrna. Oushak weaves with the trends in fashion. When color saturated medallion carpets were needed, Oushak was ready in the 17th and 18th centuries. When coarse red and blue carpets were required, Oushak and Smyrna in the 19th century wove them by the boatload. When tastes changed again, and the European dealers in Smyrna wanted room size carpets with lighter and unusual colors, and with Persianate designs, production ramped up in nearby Oushak. Those antique, all-wool construction turn-of-the-century carpets are still in high demand with designers. Antique carpets with allover, roughly drawn patterns on grounds of shrimp, rust, straw, cream, pale blue, and pale and pea green, hitherto unavailable colors, are in such demand today that contemporary Oushaks have attempted to mimic them with soft palettes, extra-large scale drawing and coarse weaves. Oushaks woven for the Turkish market, for palaces, houses and mosques were often oversize with large, repeating medallions, all in shades of (Turkey) red, dark blue, light blue-teal, and ivory, with lemon and green accents. Turkey, along with India, invented standard sizes. By vertically repeating the medallion, one could get one medallion, one with two end halves, two, three, etc. medallions, up to thirty or so feet in length. The process spared making new cartoons for each length and allowed a quicker turnaround time. Oushak, from the time of 15th century “Holbein” rugs onward, has always been a commercial center. The prayer niche directional rug is primarily a Turkish development. In the towns and villages east of Oushak, in Ghiordes, Kula, Ladik, Kirsehir, Mucur and Konya, among others, arch pattern scatters with bright palettes and weaves varying from relatively fine to moderate were almost the entire production. Antique examples were particularly popular in America around 1900. Other centers of village weaving were situated on the western coast and adjacent islands with the town of Melas and neighboring villages weaving geometric prayer rugs and scatters with a characteristic khaki green and lots of yellow. The other large region was in the northwest of Anatolia, near ancient Troy, with the sizable town of Bergama at its center. The satellite towns of Ezine, Karakecilli, Yuntdag, and Canakkale all wove colorful scatters with moderate weaves in all wool with geometric designs and cheerful palettes. Near to Istanbul, these were among the first Turkish rugs to reach Europe in the Renaissance. The earliest Turkish pieces depicted in Italian Old Master paintings display the so-called “Memling gul”, an allover panel pattern with hooked and stepped elements within the reserves. This pattern continues for centuries in the Konya area and in the Caucasus as well. Turkey is a land of villages and much of the most interesting Turkish weaving comes from one undiscovered village or another. The Konya-Cappadocia region of central Turkey includes the active towns of Karapinar, Karaman, Obruk, Sizma, and Tashpinar, all weaving Konya-esque scatters and long rugs. Karapinar has been active the longest, since the 17th century. The mosques in and around Konya have preserved locally-made rugs from the fourteenth. In the 20th century, the extra-long pile, many wefted Tulu rug was devised, with limited palettes and color block patterns. These are not really antique Tulus, but they must be a product of long-standing village tradition. There are thousands upon thousands of rural Turkish villages, almost all with easy access to local tribal wool. Rug students are discovering new names and rug types almost daily. The common denominators are bright colors, geometric designs, wool construction, moderate to coarse weaves and symmetric knots. Synthetic dyes hit the Turkish rug industry quickly and hard after 1870, and they penetrated to even the most off-the-beaten-track villages. This development was almost entirely negative. The village weavers used fugitive or overly bright dyes which ruined the color harmonies built up over centuries. Characteristic types disappeared or were negatively transmuted. The Turkish village rug of the 1870 to 1920 period is nothing to be proud of. In the eastern provinces, the semi-nomadic Kurdish tribes, collectively called ‘Yuruks’, weave all wool, geometric pieces with medium to medium-coarse weaves, as well as kilims and other flatweaves. The rugs employ cochineal instead of madder for the reds, mustard yellows, greens, and various blues. They are under-collected like the Persian Afshars. Their rugs are in scatter and long rug formats. The far eastern Turkish town of Erzerum has a long tradition of idiosyncratic, semi-workshop rugs and further to the east is Kars with a tradition of rugs in the Caucasian Kazak manner. One Turkish specialty is the Yastiks or cushion cover, made in pairs for the public living rooms of village houses. These are larger rugs in miniature and good ones are highly collectible. Like other Turkish rustic weavings, ones with synthetic dyes are almost totally undesirable. Only the tribal Baluch make similar cushion covers, known as pushtis or balishts, in the same small, oblong format. Yastiks always have a back, usually in plain weave, so that they can be easily stuffed. When the Imperial Carpet Factory at Herekeh near Istanbul closed in the early 20th century, the highly proficient Armenian master weavers set up in the Kum Kapi district of Istanbul where they wove all-silk, exquisitely fine and elaborately detailed small pieces, sometimes enriched with metal thread, for the most discriminating European buyers. Today the best, signed Kum Kapi pieces, usually in the “Sultan’s head” prayer niche design, can fetch upwards of $100,000. They are strictly for the wall. An Interwar all-silk room size Kum Kapi carpet is both exceedingly rare and stratospherically priced. The workshops closed in the 1930s, but the weaving of extremely fine, all-silk small rugs in Herekeh was revived in the 1960s. There has been a recent vogue for larger Turkish village vintage...

Yakamoz No 2 kilim rug is part of a series of kilims that take their inspiration from the poetry of light reflections on the sea surface. The abstract patterns, which are reminiscent...

Yakamoz No 6 kilim rug is part of a series of kilims that take their inspiration from the poetry of light reflections on the sea surface. The abstract patterns, which are reminiscent...

A vintage Turkish Oushak throw rug handmade during the mid-20th century. Measures: 3' 10" x 5' 10".

A vintage Turkish Anatolian throw rug handmade during the mid-20th century. Measures: 3' 11" x 5' 10".

A vintage Turkish flat-weave Kilim accent carpet in gallery format handmade during the mid-20th century. Measures: 5' 3" x 9' 10" Knotted pile rugs are just one small part of a vast universe of textile techniques suitable for heavy use. If you can imagine it, some weaver has tried it out. Pieces can be roughly divided into those reversible from the start and those never, or at least not initially, reversible. Thus kilims are considered reversible, while everything else is not. Kilims are tapestry woven rugs with both sides the same, in either slit technique where colors change, or with various methods of avoiding slits. Slit tapestry weave goes back to ancient times and Coptic Egyptian...

A vintage Turkish area rug re-dyed in green color for contemporary interiors. Measures: 6 x 11 ft. Finely hand knotted, low wool pile on cotton foundation. Professionally washed. S...

A modern Turkish flat-weave Kilim large room size carpet handmade during the 21st century with a colorful pastel geometric large scale pattern resembling circus tents over a white-be...

A vintage Turkish flat-weave Kilim room size carpet handmade during the mid-20th century. Measures: 10' 7" x 12' 9" Flat-weave rugs & carpets: Knotted pile rugs are just one small part of a vast universe of textile techniques suitable for heavy use. If you can imagine it, some weaver has tried it out. Pieces can be roughly divided into those reversible from the start and those never, or at least not initially, reversible. Thus, kilims are considered reversible, while everything else is not. Kilims are tapestry woven rugs with both sides the same, in either slit technique where colors change, or with various methods of avoiding slits. Slit tapestry weave goes back to ancient times and Coptic...

A vintage Turkish flat-weave Kilim room size carpet handmade during the mid-20th century. Measures: 10' 5" x 13' 5" Flat-weave rugs & carpets: Knotted pile rugs are just one small part of a vast universe of textile techniques suitable for heavy use. If you can imagine it, some weaver has tried it out. Pieces can be roughly divided into those reversible from the start and those never, or at least not initially, reversible. Thus, kilims are considered reversible, while everything else is not. Kilims are tapestry woven rugs with both sides the same, in either slit technique where colors change, or with various methods of avoiding slits. Slit tapestry weave goes back to ancient times and Coptic Egyptian weavers used it for ornaments on garments and larger wall hangings. Slits can be avoided by dovetailing of colors (warp sharing) or by interlocking the wefts. The Navajo weavers of the Southwest practice the first while the fine shawl weavers of Kashmir and Kerman employed the second. Interlocking produces a one-faced fabric, with smooth and rough, ridged faces. The typical Turkish, Caucasian, or Persian rustic kilim shows slits, but never long ones. Aubusson French carpets are also slit tapestries and the long color transitions are sewn up as part of the regular maintenance. Some kilims are very fine. The best antique urban Sehna (Senna) kilims on wool, cotton or silk warps approximate the comparable rugs in refinement and are the most desirable of all Persian kilims. Although the various flatweave techniques are usually expressed in geometric, simple, often repeating, patterns, Sehna kilims demonstrate that even the most intricate designs can be effectively rendered in flat-stich. The term ‘kilim’ has been extended to cover any pileless, weft-faced heavy textile. Thus, the sectioned and joined northeastern Persian horizontally striped wool rugs are called ‘kilims’. So are the plain-weave end finishes of pile rugs. All these are weft-faced, weft patterned flatweaves. These sectioned pieces are woven not on a frame loom, but one steadied by the weaver at one end and with the warps fastened down at the other. Only relatively recent have these tribal pieces become available. They are used as floorcoverings, hangings, room dividers, furniture covers. They are mostly bitonal in shades of natural dark brown and beige. Some more recent pieces show weaver innovations with ikat and moire effects. Work proceeds quickly and a skilled weaver can complete a thirty foot strip in almost no time. Wefts, the elements added as weaving progresses, play an essential part in what is a flatweave. The best-known example of an extra-weft, wrapping technique is on Caucasian and tribal Persian Soumaks, where a pattern weft wraps around the fixed warp, changing as weaving progresses. Soumaks can be large carpets, Kuba in the Caucasus, small bag faces (Caucasian and Persian Shah Savan saddle bags), or cover scatter rugs (Persian Afshars). The Soumak technique is fast, and a weaver can work much more quickly than tying knots. The left-over wefts are cut off on the back, so the front and back are initially different. As a Soumak on the floor gets used, these weft yarns wear away and the two sides converge although the exact texture remains distinct. There are other ways of pattern by weft. Often on smaller tribal pieces, the pattern weft(s) is (are) part of the weft structure, moving in an out, and holding the whole thing together. These wefts can be complementary or added (supplementary), continuous across the flatweave or cut off as they travel unneeded across the verso. Supplementary weft flatweaves are often very compact and substantial. The nomadic Turkmen and Balouch tribes employ both supplementary and complementary weft techniques on their pieces. Supplementary wefts are often raised on the recto (front) while complementary wefts are flat to the surface. Tribal Kurds employ this extra-wefting technique. The Balouch of Pakistan use complementary wefts almost exclusively on their small woven paraphernalia like salt bags. Flatweave techniques may be combined on a single piece. Afshar rugs employ plain-weave end strips, preceded by Soumak bands, with pile sections between. The large Bakhtiari saddlebags feature Soumak work, pile “islands” an areas of plain-weave. Qashqai rugs and kilims frequently displays checkerboard end strips in continuous, complementary wefting. Another distinct flatweave type is the jajim (jijim, cecim) in which a pattern is added with colored wefts as the weaving of the plain-weave ground progresses. Here the wefts are discontinuous and the pattern stands proud from the voided ground. Often made in two pieces on narrow looms and edge-sewn together, these may have geometric patterns. The term ‘jajim’ also refers to the assembled warp-faced strip and stripe covers from the Shah Savan of northwest Persia, the pattern is defined by warps alone, usually in plain stripes, but sometimes in designs of ladders, snakes, human figures and various animals. Here the color changing warps are continuous. Most are wool, a few are silk. Better to call these something else. Indian ‘Dhurries’ are all cotton kilims and ‘shatrangis’ employ wool wefts on cotton warps. Dhurries are slitless. The cotton texture is more appropriate to the humid and warm climate of the Indian subcontinent. Modern Dhurries...

A hand knotted modern rug with soft, cozy wool pile on wool foundation. Size: 8.2 x 10 Ft. The rug can be custom produced in a different size, color combination, any pattern and weav...

Yakamoz No 4 kilim rug is part of a series of kilims that take their inspiration from the poetry of light reflections on the sea surface. The abstract patterns, which are reminiscent...

A modern Turkish flat-weave Kilim large room size carpet handmade during the 21st century with a large-scale geometric contemporary pattern in ruby red. Measures: 13' 6" x 16' 5" ...

Ege No 3 kilim rug is part of a series of kilims that reflect an admiration for the visual and emotional expressiveness of the sea surface, with its fluid movements, and hues of colo...

Ege No 2 kilim rug is part of a series of kilims that reflect an admiration for the visual and emotional expressiveness of the sea surface, with its fluid movements, and hues of color reflections that create a relaxing effect on the human psyche. Having blue Aegean Sea as its muse, the name for this kilim rug series is Ege, the Turkish name for Aegean. Ege is a series of kilim rugs that merge the sensibilities of centuries old craft traditions of Anatolian kilim weaving...

Ege No 2 kilim rug is part of a series of kilims that reflect an admiration for the visual and emotional expressiveness of the sea surface, with its flu...

Ege No 1 kilim rug is part of a series of kilims that reflect an admiration for the visual and emotional expressiveness of the sea surface, with its fluid mov...

A vintage Turkish flat-weave Kilim room size carpet handmade during the mid-20th century. Measures: 10' 1" x 13' 6" Flat-weave Rugs & Carpets: Knotted pile rugs are just one s...

A vintage Turkish Anatolian modern style rug in runner format handmade during the mid-20th century. Measures: 3' 10" x 15' 3".

A vintage Turkish rug re-dyed in indigo blue color. Measures: 6.2 x 9.4 ft. Finely hand knotted, low wool pile on cotton foundation. Deep washed. Sturdy and can be used on a high tra...

Ege No 1 kilim rug is part of a series of kilims that reflect an admiration for the visual and emotional expressiveness of the sea surface, with its fluid mov...

Yakamoz No 6 kilim rug is part of a series of kilims that take their inspiration from the poetry of light reflections on the sea surface. The abstract patterns, which are reminiscent...

Assorted pieces of mid-20th century hand knotted woolen Anatolian rugs were washed, sheared, redyed in various colors, cut into small rectangles then stitched together by hand in cou...

A modern Turkish flat-weave Kilim room size carpet handmade during the 21st century with a contemporary and colorful design. Measures: 10' 9" x 13' 5" Flat-weave Rugs & Carpets...

A vintage Turkish area rug over-dyed in purple color. Measures: 6.2 x 10.2 ft The rug is finely hand-knotted, heavy, lays flat on the floor and has low wool pile on cotton foundation...

A vintage Turkish runner rug re-dyed in red color, great for contemporary interiors. Finely hand knotted, low wool pile on cotton foundation. Professionally washed. Sturdy and can ...

A vintage Turkish area rug re-dyed in gray color for contemporary interiors. Finely hand knotted, low wool pile on cotton foundation. Professionally washed. Sturdy and can be used ...

53428 new contemporary Turkish Oushak rug with modern American Craftsman style. Imbued with Anatolian symbolism, this hand knotted wool contemporary Turkish Oushak rug with modern Am...

Beautiful contemporary Moroccan style runner hand knotted wool rug with a navy-blue field. This modern rug has an ivory accent in a gorgeous all-over geometric tribal design. This...

A vintage floral Turkish runner rug re-dyed in orange color. Great for contemporary interiors. Finely hand knotted, low wool pile on cotton foundation. Professionally washed. Sturdy ...

Originating from Turkey, this modern transitional wool rug from Rug & Kilim is handwoven in high-quality wool, featuring dominant red and golden-...

Ege No 3 kilim rug is part of a series of kilims that reflect an admiration for the visual and emotional expressiveness of the sea surface, with its fluid movements, and hues of colo...

A contemporary Turkish flatweave Kilim accent rug handmade during the 21st century in shades of beige and cream with some tribal devices in black. This patchwork style rug consists o...

Ege No 3 kilim rug is part of a series of kilims that reflect an admiration for the visual and emotional expressiveness of the sea surface, with its fluid movements, and hues of colo...

Ege No 3 kilim rug is part of a series of kilims that reflect an admiration for the visual and emotional expressiveness of the sea surface, with its fluid movements, and hues of colo...

Ege No 1 kilim rug is part of a series of kilims that reflect an admiration for the visual and emotional expressiveness of the sea surface, with its fluid mov...

Ege No 1 kilim rug is part of a series of kilims that reflect an admiration for the visual and emotional expressiveness of the sea surface, with its fluid mov...

Beautiful contemporary Moroccan style runner hand-knotted wool rug with a turquoise field. This Modern rug has an ivory accent in a gorgeous all-over geometric tribal design. This...

A vintage Turkish area rug over-dyed in charcoal gray color. The rug is finely hand-knotted and has low wool pile on cotton foundation. It is deep-washed, in good condition, sturdy ...

Ege No 2 kilim rug is part of a series of kilims that reflect an admiration for the visual and emotional expressiveness of the sea surface, with its flu...

A modern Turkish flat-weave Kilim large room size carpet handmade during the 21st century. Measures: 13' 9" x 16' 8" Flat-weave rugs & carpets: Knotted pile rugs are just one small part of a vast universe of textile techniques suitable for heavy use. If you can imagine it, some weaver has tried it out. Pieces can be roughly divided into those reversible from the start and those never, or at least not initially, reversible. Thus, kilims are considered reversible, while everything else is not. Kilims are tapestry woven rugs with both sides the same, in either slit technique where colors change, or with various methods of avoiding slits. Slit tapestry weave goes back to ancient times and Coptic...

A vintage Turkish accent rug with an all-over stylized floral design over-dyed in red, great for bringing a pop of color to your interiors. The rug is finely hand-knotted with distr...

A vintage hand-knotted Turkish area rug with a minimalist design over-dyed in gray. The rug features distressed low wool pile on cotton foundation. It is in very good condition, deep...

Assorted pieces of mid-20th century hand knotted Turkish rugs that were washed, sheared, re-dyed in various colors and cut into geometric shapes were stitched together by hand in cou...

53434 Modern Earth-Tone Turkish Oushak Rug, 09'03 x 12'01. Subtle Southwest meets luxury lodge in this hand knotted wool Turkish Oushak rug. The Aztec pattern and earth-tone colors woven into this piece work together creating a cozy, inviting and laid-back atmosphere. An allover geometric pattern composed of serrated stars and small concentric diamonds covers the abrashed brown field. It is enclosed with a lozenge Kotchanak border. ​ Perfect for a living room, front room, dining room, wine cellar, conservatory, royal suite, executive suite, bedroom, private library, state room, great room, private chambers, drawing room, billiards room, golf locker room, trophy room, playroom, nursery, game room, music room, masters retreat, formal vestibule, or hotel lobby. Rustic yet refined, this neutral Oushak rug is well-suited with a variety of styles: Southwest, Modern Mexican, Aztec, Santa Fe Desert, Pacific Northwest...

Beautiful modern Tulu hand-knotted wool rug with a blue field. This Tulu rug has a multicolor accents layout a gorgeous medallion floral design. This rug measures: 10' x 13'8". ...

A vintage handmade Turkish area rug over-dyed in red with a plain solid design, great for contemporary interiors. The rug is finely hand-knotted, professionally washed and has low wo...

Modern rug with all-over modern diamond design, rug KOL-60809 country of origin / type: Afghanistan/ Modern This modern rug with a contemporary design rendered in connected diamon...

A modern Turkish room size carpet handmade during the 21st century with a braided design in white and grey. Measures: 9' 0" x 12' 4".

A modern Turkish flat-weave Kilim large room size carpet handmade during the 21st century with a horizontally striped pattern in soft, but colorful tones similar to the style of Amer...

Ege No 1 kilim rug is part of a series of kilims that reflect an admiration for the visual and emotional expressiveness of the sea surface, with its fluid mov...