Handwoven Carpets of Turkey -1 Eastern Anatolia

Eastern Anatolia has specific geography very suitable to feed sheep and goats and make transhumance. The high altitude of the pastures and the summer rains and the snow cover which rests for a long period on the soil make the grazing of the land not only in an abundant amount but very diverse as the amount of the species of plants too.

Those properties attracted many ethnicities and cultures who wanted to feed sheep and goats in a nomadic way for millenniums. Armenians, Nestorians, Kurds, and Turkmens came to the area in different centuries and live in a pastoralist life cycle and in harmony with each other until the first World War take place ob this geography.

Van lake, with a view of Akhtamar Armenian church and Artos mountain in the back

Beritan Tribe, in a pasture on Şarafettin Mountains Bingöl, Eastern Turkey

The area’s natural boundaries begin from Sivas plateaus in the west, follow the altered Mediterranean climate of Marash and Osmaniye cities, reach until the Eastern Taurus Mountains surrounding Malatya -Adıyaman-Diyarbakır line, moves towards Hakkari Mountains, and goes back to the north passing from the east of Van lake, follows very high mountains of Tendurek and Ağrı, and is surrounded by the Black Sea in the north.

An Armenian family from Çatak, Van area, with the clothing they wove and tailored for their own use. the beginning of 20th century, Eastern Turkey

Sheep of Eastern Anatolia with long and glossy fibers, Tatvan, Bitlis

The sheep bred there has long and glossy wool which is very suitable to make very fine warps. This property is realized and used by local semi-independent and independent states in the 15th century where we first meet the state-controlled workshop productions in the area. Most probably started by Akkoyunlu state, this production had taken place in Eastern Anatolia around Sivas, Erzurum, and Erzincan during the 16th and 17th centuries. In the first stage of this production, it is obvious that a city-based workforce is used regardless of ethnicity. Safavid effects of extremely floral and cloud band designs may be seen as well as Chintamani patterns. The Caucasus and Iranian effects have introduced too animal figures into the patterns.

15th century Eastern Anatolian workshop carpet with very fine structure and floral and cloudband patterns with Persian Effect. Vakiflar Museum

On the other hand, the nomadic and semi-nomadic entities which are Kurdish or Turkmen or a harmonious mixture of both such as the Reshwan tribal confederation had developed their style, sometimes influenced by the early workshop production periods which turned to a tribal style in the following centuries.

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Trbal carpet belonging to Reshwan Kurds, 19th century, Eastern Anatolia

In the area, the pile of the carpets is generally long, near one cm or even longer. This has two main reasons, the first one is very obviously geographical which is that the winters are extremely cold and these carpets aim to provide heat isolation on the ground of houses or tents. The second reason is based on a more aesthetic fact that it is a way to show the glossy and silky quality of the pile yarn.

Kağızman carpet with typical glossy and high pile. 19th century, Eastern Turkey

Parallel to this property, the colors in this region are generally dark and saturated. Blood to cherry reds, the usage of very dark brown field color, saturated purples, dark ocher yellows, and clod cochineal reds are very typical to the area. We should not forget the extreme talent and experience of Armenian Dye makers of the area as the primary source of these beautiful colors. The very dark blue color is increasing in the areas where the Caucasus and Iranian effect is more visible.

Eastern Anatolian prayer rug, mid-19th century with saturated cochineal red, dark blue and apricot colors

Antique Eastern Anatolian carpet, 19th century, with saturated colors

A special carpet of early 17th century, with saturated workshop dyes from Sarkisla, Eastern Turkey, Moshe Tabibnia Gallery

On the other hand, as a property of the area, some important amount of sheep in the local area called “Serhad” is from light to dark brown. The “Serhad” area including the cities of Kars, Ağrı, north part of Van, Bİngöl, and Muş is maybe the accumulation of the coldest cities in the land. So the carpets woven there, are generally having all kinds of brown shades from time to time over-dyed with other colors. Those carpets are very coarse and rough contrarily to the carpets belonging to the other parts of Eastern Anatolia apart “Serhad” cities. It is very difficult to see early carpets from this region most probably with the reason that the carpets are not fine enough to be collectible. However, we will put some examples here to give an idea about them.

Vintage “Serhad” area carpet with natural wool clors and some dyed yarns. Eastern Turkey

The area has a rich ethnic-weaving culture, suitable geographical properties, and a long carpet tradition. With these properties, it is one of the most important carpet production areas of Turkey.