Page 25 - Azərbaycan xalçaları

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“Gasymushagy” silk embroidery. Karabakh Group. Lachin, Azerbaijan. XVII century. Private collection. 116 x 65
The knot height of the carpets from the Karabakh Group
varies from 6-10 mm. In spite of the lesser density of these
carpets, they are strong, thick and quite resistant.
The compositions of Karabakh carpets are rich, meaning
that these carpets have complex design structures.
As we see in the other regions of Azerbaijan, the design
of pile-weaves during the development period of carpet
making in the region of Karabakh is composed of various
elements.
In general, the carpet composition consists of two parts:
1) central field
2) border
The motifs of the central field and the border are
interlinked naturally.
Decorations in the central field of a Karabakh carpet are
composed of plant (floral) elements, images of home goods,
drawings of living beings (such as people and animals), and
shaped elements (stairs, squares, rectangles, polyhedrons,
hooks, acute and dotted angles, pins or spikes, circles,
octagon stars, undefined forms).
All plant motifs are divided into 2 groups: geometrical
and curvilinear. Geometrical elements are used as filler or
secondary devices. In comparison with other regions, these
elements were mostly used on Karabakh carpets.
Plant elements seen on the carpets of Karabakh are
divided into two types by their forms:
1. geometric elements
2. curvilinear elements
Geometric elements play an auxiliary or supplemental
role as filler elements in the general design of carpets. In
comparison with other regions of Azerbaijan, these elements
are widely used in the carpets of the Karabakh Group.
Curvilinear motifs are more stylized in relation to plant
elements. These forms were mainly used in the Tebriz carpet
making school in the 15th-16th centuries. They have strongly
impacted not only the carpets of Karabakh, but also the
carpet-making schools in the Middle East and Asia Minor.
One can also observe various animal figures on the
carpets of Karabakh, such as domestic and wild animals,
including birds and insects.
The maral (a type of large deer or Siberian stag) often
seen on Karabakh carpets is the common totem with the
same symbolic meaning for all Turkic peoples. It was the
sign of progress for all these people as a symbol of immense
strength. The ever-changing wood-like horns of the maral
are interpreted as the symbol of rejuvenation, permanent
renovation, and the pace of time.
With the invention of the carriage, Sumerians (considered
to be the tribes of Altay Turkic people settled in ancient
Mesopotamia) harnessed horses to draw it. The horse totem
is also related to the sun. Oghuz Turkic tribes worshipped
horses in their settlements and many facts support this.
Tribes related to theAltay family of peoples had the following
religious totems: bull, lion, horse, tiger, eagle, dragon, maral,
and wolf.
A bull or ox stepping out of water embodies strength
and might. Ancient drawings of bulls were found among
Sumerians, in Caucasian Albania, and in Central Asia.
Azerbaijani carpets / KARABAKH GROUP