About Me

I am a recent university graduate and doing research on  Anatolian nomadic culture, traditional kilim and rug folklore. I am interested in this field because of my historical background; I am Turkoman; my mother is from Sarikecili clan and my father is from Karakecili clan. I will give a brief info about my lineage since the kilims woven by the two clans are identified with the names of these clans and they have importance in Anatolian kilim.

Sarikecili and Karakecili clans are the two of the seven clans of Kayi tribe which established the Selcuq and Ottoman Empires. My ancestors settled down during my grandparents' time. They were living in "yayla" on the Taurus Mountains in summers and living in "kislak" in Antalya in winters. At that time, they were living in black goat-hair tents. Then they settled down in a village around the Taurus Mountains. They were earning their life with kilim textile. Thus, I own several hand-woven kilims, heybes and ornaments with different ages.

The motifs of the heybes and the kilims, I own, are special, reflecting weaving technique and colors used by my lineage. All of them are antique, authentic family inheretance pieces made of natural wool and natural dyed. They were woven with ancient techniques with natural wools and natural dyes, in other words with 100% natural products.

Classification

Kilims are named according to their techniques, motifs, region and the names of tribes or klans by whom they are woven.

a.        techniques: they are called marrowed kilim, marrowless kilim, curved woofed kilim, wrapped contour kilim.

b.       motifs: Kocboynuzlu, Farda, Gulbudak...

c.        region: Ushak, Shiraz, Mut, Bayat, Cine, Esme,Yagcibedir, Antalya...

d.       tribes or klans: Karakecili, Sarıkecili, Afsar...

An important point is that although soumak, zili and jijim are categorized as kilim, they are different types of weavings.

Materials

Rugs are made from five basic materials;

a.        Goat hair

b.       Floss silk

c.        Sheep wool

d.       Cotton

e.        Pure silk

Colors

The ancient practice of natural dying is still continuing in Anatolian villages. Natural dyes reflect the harmony of the nature so they are more pleasant to the eye. The natural wool is dyed with natural dyes obtained from plants, vegetables, barries and trees.

a.        Red: It is obtained from rubia, pine huska and madder.

b.       Green: It is obtained from oleander and develik.

c.        Blue: It is obtained from civit otu.

d.       Yellow: Bright yellow is obtained from ox-eye camomile; deep yellow is obtained from buckthorne and this plant is used for producing secondary colors; supurge, wild camomile and tree-leaved sage are also used in obtaining yellow.

e.        Brown: It is obtained from walnut tree. The walnut pods are also used in medicine and for dyeing hair. Additionally, pomegranate tree is used to maintain yellow to bronish yellow and brown to black.

Dark and light color shades are arranged with the length of time which the plant is boiled. The wool is boiled with the plant to absorb the color. Some secondary plants and salts are used as mordants for the absorption of the color by the wool and to obtain the arranged color.

Since the dyes are prepared with some mixtures of plants, colors change from region to region. Additionally, the same color may change in one kilim, there may be lighter and darker shades. This is not a deficit, it illustrates the natural dye