Page 74 - Azərbaycan xalçaları

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yarn used for the warp, weft, and cover. The carpets woven
in Nakhchivan resemble Karabakh group traditions in their
artistic and technological features.
Since ancient times, special dye-houses operated in Na-
khchivan and Ordubad. The dyes were made according to
national tradition and were distinguished from other carpet
schools by their brightness and perfect tints. Red was made
from madder and cochineal while dark blue and green were
made from indigo. When carpets are colored with natural
dyes, their colors have fresher and warmer tones.
Nakhchivan carpets enriched Azerbaijani carpet weaving
art with traditional patterns and elements, as well as particu-
larly bright color tints. The vertical stripes, rhombs, hook-like
elements, plant ornaments, and animal depictions signify
memorized genetic beliefs and imagination. The system of
weaving patterns gives a rhythmic and dynamic harmony to
the carpet by placing on one space a real and traditional style.
The main production center of one type of carpet with verti-
cal stripes, the jejim, was Ordubad. These carpets are woven
mainly from silk and are decorated by an alternation of white,
green, red, yellow, blue, and other-colored stripes, giving the
carpet a calico feel.
Another type of carpet, the shedde, distinguished by its
specific weaving style and artistic structure among Nakh-
chivan carpets, is interesting from the point of view of its sub-
jects. Many shedde depict a line of riders and camels since
the motif of camel caravans decorated with cameleers was the
symbol of eternal life, a life caravan. According to tradition,
Zili. Wool. Flat weave. 1880.
Nakhchivan Group. Azerbaijan.
Wool kecha (felt). 1966. Nakhchivan Group.
Givrag settlement, Kangarli district. Azerbaijan.