Page 44 - Azərbaycan xalçaları

42
The “Alpan” carpet carries the name of the village in Guba where it was woven.
The carpet has been woven from wool, it has manuscript elements, and the weaving
technique used was “turkbaf.”
The carpet consists of a central field and border strip. The border strip has artistic
structure, color arrangement, and a smooth weaving style. Two of the three strips
creating the border are symmetric madakhil. The “qarmaq” element, seen on border
strips of flat weave “sumakh” carpets and pile weave “Zeykhur” carpets, has been
woven in this “Alpan” carpet. The strip of elements lined up successively to create
dynamism on the carpet is typical of the carpet tradition of Guba. When examining
the “qarmaq” element on the border strip it is possible to see that it is in the form of
a claw.
Each Oghuz tribe had 24 sagas with bird symbols such as falcon, eagle, and other
symbols. The depiction of these elements appears on some modern carpets as well.
The major border in the center is reminiscent of poppies on branches. One of the
innovations of Islam was the development of ornamental art; carpets had more cal-
ligraphic pattern elements while plant and geometrical elements developed. Each
flower has its own meaning, but overall flowers represent paradise.
The dark-colored central field has a rich design. The main element consists of gols.
The rhomb-shaped center gol with red and yellow flowers and each of the eight
flowers in the “palmetto” form scattered around it have abstract meaning. From
ancient times, the sun was represented by two colors: bright red and yellow. Both
colors have been used in the weaving of gols. If the gols are seen as the sun, the “pal-
mettos” are considered rays of the sun with its energy disbursing to people.
The background of the “Alpan” carpet is rich with other patterns. The three-petal
leaves, “charkhi-falak,” grape leaves, s-shapes, “buta,” and a pair of dense knots
woven symmetrically in the edges of the upper area of the carpet have humanistic
meaning as symbols of longevity, eternity, and purity. Though the “buta” pattern
symbolizes fire and flame, it resembles plant elements. Densely woven knots are
signs of every passing year of human life and the “charkhi-falak” represents the
changes of life. Grape leaves represent paradise.
No repair or restoration work has been conducted on the carpet. The carpet is in
excellent condition. The carpet is of artistic, historic, and scientific importance.