Amazing Azarbayijan Kilim Rug

The weavings of Azerbaijan are prized by collectors for their technical perfection and utmost emotionality. Azerbaijani rugs are a product of Azerbaijan and Iranian Azerbaijan, an ancient center of carpet weaving. The Azerbaijani rug is a traditional handmade textile of various sizes, with dense texture and a pile or pile-less surface, whose patterns are characteristic of Azerbaijan's many carpet-making regions. Traditionally, since ancient times the carpets were used in Azerbaijan to cover floors, decorate interior walls, sofas, chairs, beds and tables. In the past every young girl had to learn the art of weaving carpets, and the carpets she wove became a part of her dowry. Starting a new carpet meant a feast, but the completion of a rug meant an even greater celebration for the family. At dyeing workshops, professionals dye yarns with dye-stuffs mainly of plant origin, strictly following the centuries old traditional techniques of coloring. Though appearing to be simple at first sight, this work requires high skills of a dyer. To prepare the seven basic colors (red, green, yellow, black, dark blue, white, purple) and their tints used in carpet making, professional dyers use green walnut shells, the skin of pomegranates, indigo, leaves of the mulberry, quince and walnut plants, and roots of madder. For example, in order to achieve yellow and its hues, they use bulb onion peels, mulberry leaves collected in the late autumn, etc. To produce red and pink colors, madder is used, and to obtain dark blue, blue and green, indigo dye is used. At the very end of the yarn dyeing process a dyer adds salt, alum or vinegar into the dye solution to increase the intensity, fastness and durability of colors. Then, dyed yarns are pressed and dried with special techniques. Measures: 6'4" x 9'3".