History of Turkmen hand-made carpet

Turkmens lived on the east side of the Caspian Sea in Northeastern Iran and Turkmenistan for thousands of years. They lived as tribes in tents called yurts. The history of the Turkmen people goes back to 6 thousand years ago. The most important art of Turkmens is carpet weaving, while describing Turkmen horses, Marco Polo also mentioned the beauty of Turkmen carpets. The special colors they had are unique. The distinctive feature of these carpets is that red is the dominant color in these carpets.

Turkmen women

Colors of Turkmen hand-woven carpets

Limited colors are used in Turkmen carpets. From the past until now, 5 colors were used, which were: white, dark red, dark green, black and crimson, but later a person named Mohammad Niazi changed this number of colors. It reached 12 numbers, some of which are cinnamon color, light brown, dark brown, golden, light blue.

Turkmen rugs

Turkmen people also used natural plants for dyeing in the past. They extracted a dark red color from the roots of madder and extracted brown color from the combination of walnut shell and madder roots. Sometimes they added pomegranate shell to the previous combination and a color similar to the color of cinnamon wood was obtained. Similarly, the combination of white alum and pomegranate shell It gave a creamy color.

Iranian home

What are the characteristics of Turkmen handwoven carpet?

• In Turkmen carpets, wool is used for all parts of the hand-made carpet. Unlike the carpets of other regions of Iran, which use cotton for warp and weft, in Turkmen carpets, wool is used for pile, warp and weft.
• Turkmen people use horizontal looms to weave carpets, for this reason, the dimensions of these carpets are often smaller than carpets in other regions of Iran, and you rarely see large carpets in Turkmen hand-wovens.
• Turkmen nomads use both symmetrical and asymmetrical knots to weave their carpets. Teke tribe uses symmetrical knot and Yamut tribe uses asymmetric knot.
• The density of Turkmen carpets is about 40 to 50 knots per 7 cm.
• One of the characteristics of Turkmen carpets is that they weave a few centimeters at the beginning and end of the carpet with their own design, which is not common in other regions.
  

  Turkmen Mari-Gul design rug with borders with shoulder design

Designs of Turkmen handwoven carpets

It might be interesting for you to know that the Turkmen carpet weavers weave their carpets without any drawn plans. They weave the carpet row by row according to the designs they have in mind. Turkmen people are divided into different clans, such as Teke, Ersari, Yamut, Bashir, etc., each of which has its own plans. The names of these maps are taken from the names of clans.

The most famous design of Turkmen carpets is the Mari-Gul design, which is woven by the Teke tribe. Another name for this design is camel’s foot, and outside of Iran, it is elephant’s foot. The reason for naming camel’s feet was the Turkmen people’s love for camels. This design includes octagons similar to bergamot that are repeated throughout the carpet and create the general design of the carpet.

Mari-Gul design

There is also another famous design that is woven by the tribe and it is called the four seasons. In this design, the carpet is divided into 4 parts and it is a reminder of the seasons.

Turkmen carpet, Four seasons design

Other designs of Turkmen carpets include Qezal-Ayaq, Gabse-Gul, Aine-Gul, Ensi… In Turkmen designs, repetition is the first word. The original Turkmen maps are all based on repetition, that is, a role that expresses a specific concept is repeated in all the maps.

Interior design with Turkmen rugs

Buy Turkmen handmade carpets online

Turkmen carpet is one of the authentic and traditional Iranian carpets. The design and dyeing method of this carpet is such that you can use it in modern and classic arrangements. The color combination of neutral and simple sofas, along with the warm colors of the Turkmen carpet, harmonizes well. By buying this carpet, you will bring extra warmth to your home.

Modern design with Turkmen rug