Examples of decorative and applied arts, including art products of practical importance in society and everyday life (tapestry, ceramics, embroidery, embroidery, weaving, weaving, jewelry), as well as objects made by casting, woodworking, forging, metalworking, engraving, carving, carving, burning, making motifs on walls, ornamentation, have appeared in Azerbaijan since time immemorial. Carpet weaving, which is included in these branches of art, should be especially mentioned. The writings of ancient Greek philosophers and archaeological excavations show that the peoples living in the territory of Azerbaijan were interested in carpet-weaving since ancient times. Because all the materials needed for practicing this art (sheep breeding to obtain wool, natural dyes obtained from various plant species) were available here.
One of the unique characteristics of our people is the art of carpet weaving. Carpets are made of ropes made of wool, cotton, silk and other materials; the more twisted the rope, the stronger it is. Initially, our people wove carpets to meet their daily needs, but over time this simple occupation was elevated to a high art level.
Azerbaijan is famous for its carpet art among the countries of the Near East and Central Asia. Azerbaijan, including South Azerbaijan, which was once separated from us, has produced such valuable carpets for centuries that today they are preserved and exhibited in the most famous museums of the world. The small-sized suede carpet “The Battle of the Dragon and Simurg” woven in Karabakh in the XVth century, now preserved in the Pergamon Art Museum in Berlin, and the carpet “Sheikh Sefi” woven in Ardabil in the XVI century, now on display in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, are among the rarest examples of world art. Two works kept under glass in European museums are always preserved under special conditions. One of them is Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” or “Cokonda” in the Louvre Museum, and the other is Azerbaijan’s largest (56 m2) “Sheikh Sefi” carpet of that period, with its unique composition, motifs and harmonious colors.
History of Carpet Making:
The history of carpet weaving in Azerbaijan dates back to ancient times. The discovery of remains from the 4th-3rd millennium BC in archaeological excavations proves that carpet weaving was widely spread as a branch of art. The discovery of traces of mats from the 4th millennium BC reveals that mats, which show the weaving technique of kilims, the ancestor of pile-free carpets, were used as flooring at that time.
Research shows that Azerbaijan has a carpet weaving school in the Caucasus. Worldwide, 90% of the patterns known as Caucasian carpet compositions are the compositions created by Azerbaijani carpet weavers. The worldwide recognition of Azerbaijani carpets is confirmed by Eastern miniatures of the XIV-XV centuries and the works of European painters. Medieval Italian, Dutch and Flemish painters – Hans Memling, Carlo Crivelli, Thomas de Keyser – depicted Quba and Shirvan carpets in their works.
Azerbaijani carpets have been researched in every period and immortalized through researches. Greek historian Xenophon (5th century BC), Albanian historian Moisey Kalankatuklu (7th century), Arab chroniclers such as al-Tabari (9th-10th century), al-Muqaddesi (10th century) and al-Istakhri (10th century), Chinese traveler Xuanzang (7th century), Italian traveler Marco Polo (13th century), English merchants and ambassadors shared interesting details about our carpets in their information about our people.
Carpets have always been the favorite of our people and have been depicted in the tales, poems, epics and proverbs we have created. In this context, in the epic “Kitab-ı Dede Korkut” the names of silk carpets are often found. In the works of Qatran Tabrizi, Nizami and Khaqani, well-known figures of classical Azerbaijani literature of the XII century, it is possible to find a lot of information about our silk carpets woven from precious threads. In the XV-XVII centuries, during the Safavid period, the carpet art showed a great development. In the Middle Ages, carpets were woven in almost all cities of Azerbaijan. Favorable climatic conditions contributed to the development of carpet weaving.
Azerbaijan Carpet Art was included in UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on November 16, 2010.
Carpet Types:
Azerbaijani carpets are divided into pile and non-pile types according to their technical characteristics. Carpets and carpet products have developed through a long evolutionary process from simple weaving. It is possible to see the first stages of the art of weaving in various products produced from raw materials of plant origin (thatch, flax, etc.) by simple threading method. The emergence of carpet art is associated with the emergence of pile-free carpets with multiple functions. Palaz, kilim, cicim, şedde, verni, zili, sumak and other examples of pile-free carpets are quite old. These types of carpets belong to the periods when people led nomadic lives and were used to cover migration wagons and tents. Pile-free carpets coincide with the earliest period of the art of weaving. All these pile-free carpets are divided into eight different types according to their weaving technique, compositional structure, rich ornaments and color harmonies: palaz, cicim, ladı, kilim, şedde, verni, zili and sumak. These carpet types differ from each other in terms of knot density, color tones, weaving technique and motifs.
Sources:
– Tagiyeva R. “Azerbaijan Carpet” Encyclopedia. Volume II.
– Azerbaijani Carpets in World Collections
– Abdullayeva S.A. “Azerbaijani Music and Depictive Art”, Baku-2010
– Dünyamaliyeva S.S. “Ornament (History, Theory, Construction)”, Baku – 2013
– “Baku, Shirvan, Quba Carpets”, Baku: Ziya, 2013
– Mammadov X.S., Emiraslanov I.R., Nəcəfov H.N., Mursaliev A.A. “Memory of Motifs”, Azerbaijan State Publications, Baku, 1981
– Tagiyeva R. “Azerbaijan Carpet”, Baku: Elm, 1999
– Efendiyev R. “Decorative-Technical Arts of Azerbaijan (Middle Ages)”, Baku: Işıq, 1976
– Karimov L. “Azerbaijan Carpet”, Volume I, B.-L. 1961