Old Yomut Turkoman Central Asian Cijim Jijim Kilim Rug

About the Item

This is a Central Asian Old Yomut Kilim from the West Turkestan and Iran region with a rare and beautiful color composition. The Yomut are to be found in north-east Iran, and across the border in west Turkestan close to the Caspian Sea. There is also a group to the north of the Kara Kum Desert and a hundred or so families living in Herat in western Afghanistan. The Yomut kilims of north-east Iran and the Caspian Sea area are large, rectangular, and woven in one piece. The overall coloration is a distinct deep madder red through to a rich pink, with brocaded guls patterning the whole field in colors of dark brown, blue, and turquoise with highlighting details in ivory-white wool. The gul is the predominant motif characteristic of Turkoman weaves, almost to the exclusion of any other design. Gul is the Persian word for flower; however, through the extended activity of knotting and weaving, the flower has become so stylized as to become unrecognizable as a figurative representation. All the major Turkoman tribes have their own stylized form of gul, and these are featured extensively in pile carpets and bags of all kinds. They are considered to be a form of tribal standard, important in the identification of the tribal group. The gul is displayed on camel bags, and it is often prominently exhibited at the nomadic encampment. Yomut kilims are well finished, with either plain, knotted, or long net fringes, and wide undecorated end panels in the traditional Turkoman red, often with intriguing and amusing motifs brocaded at random; the corners of the rugs are sometimes finished with short 'tails', or 'ropes' of weave, and these are used for pegging the Kilim down on the ground outside for a festival or special occasion. The Yomut people of Herat produce modern brocaded kilims. Although this group is largely diluted through intermarriage with the Ersari Turkomen of north Afghanistan, they vehemently consider themselves to be Yomut and their kilims still retain the traditional vivid red appearance of Turkoman pile carpets; unfortunately, they are lustreless and woven to a very loose standard of brocade work, with large scale imitations of the traditional gul or the bastani motif, a distinctive hooked star motif set in a lozenge or diamond grid pattern.

Dimensions:

Width: 72.05 in (183 cm)Length: 108.27 in (275 cm)

Style:

Kilim (In the Style Of)

Materials and Techniques:

Natural Fiber,Wool,Hand-Knotted,Hand-Woven

Place of Origin:

Turkey

Period:

Mid-20th Century

Date of Manufacture:

circa 1950