(C.F. A. Voysey) Doris Leslie Blau
art silk. A trade term for artificial silk or mercerized cotton. See “floss” and “mercerized.”
art squares. Late nineteenth-century, power-loomed English carpets. These carpets were woven as whole, independent carpets, rather than as carpeting strips to be sewn together according to prior practice.
asab (Arabic). Ikat.
asachu. Moroccan long, narrow, mixed-technique fabric used as a tent divider.
Asadâbâd, Assadabad. A town of the Hamadan region in northwest Iran. The town is a source of red, coarsely woven rugs with an open variation of the Herati pattern.
asan (Sanskrit “seat, pose”). A small rug of India, usually in a square format, used for meditation or prayer.
ashik (Turk. aşık, “knuckle bone”). A stepped motif used in borders or stripes and, sometimes as a field design.
Ashik border After Moshkova
ashik gul. A gul of serrated or stepped diamonds. The diamonds may be concentric.
Ashik gul
Ashkali. An ambiguous term for a Qashqa’i medallion and border design. See “Qashqa’i.”
asmalyk, osmulduk (Turk., “hanging”). A five-sided or seven-sided Turkmen camel trapping made in pairs and worn by the camel carrying the bride in wedding celebrations. See “bird asmalyk” and “jewelry asmalyk.”
Asmalyk (Yomud) Richard Golder, Jr.
Asmalyk (Ersari) Grover Schiltz
Assadabad. See “Asadâbâd.”
assyuti. An Egyptian kilim of traditional design, woven in bright colors. Attributed to Asyut, a city of central Egypt.
asymmetric knot. A pile knot. The Persian (Farsibaff) or (incorrectly described) Senneh knot. This knot may be open to the right or left.
Asymmetric knots
Atabei. A sub-tribe of the Yomud. They are associated with the erre gul. See “erre gul” and “Yomud.”
atelier (French). A workshop where artisans are employed or an artist’s studio.
at-joli (Turk.). Horse blanket.
atkı (Turk.). Weft.
At-Tar. See “Iraq.”
at-torba (Turk.) Horse feed bag.
attribution. Attribution is assigning a geographic and/or ethnic origin to a weaving, sometimes including dating. More formally, attribution is assigning a geographic, ethnic, or commercial origin to a weaving (with or without dating) by reference to detailed criteria and persuasive evidence. Persuasive evidence should show that the criteria are valid and that the rug in question satisfies the criteria. Criteria should be explicit, detailed, observable, and relate the properties of a weaving to the weavers.
Evidence for the validity of criteria may be classified as follows:
1. Certain knowledge. A reliable witness saw rugs woven in a specific place or by persons of a specific ethnic group and documented the shared properties of these rugs. This is the rarest and most persuasive form of evidence.
2. Inference from specific contemporary circumstances. Local inhabitants claim the rug as their product. Someone purchased the rug in a specific area or shipped it from a specific area. Dealers identify an area, ethnic group, or commercial entity as a source for certain rugs. The shared properties of these rugs were documented. This form of evidence is more common and less persuasive than certain knowledge.
3. Inference from historical and cultural circumstances. One deduces the origin of rugs with shared properties from historical and cultural circumstances. For example, comparison of rug motifs with decorative motifs from other sources can support the criteria for attribution. Generally, this form of evidence is more speculative and less persuasive than other classifications. A particular weaving should be shown to satisfy the criteria for attribution based on internal evidence (properties of the rug itself) or external evidence such as history of ownership, fitness of a weaving for its supposed purpose, or information about the site where the weaving was found. Also, attribution may be a socially acceptable fib about the origin of a rug. In rug literature, a question mark in parenthesis following an attribution indicates it is speculative. See “provenance” and “provocation.”
aubergine. Eggplant; the color of this, a blackish purple. Bishop’s purple.
Aubusson. Carpets woven at the factories first established in Aubusson, France, in about 1665. Initially, carpet designs copied Turkish models, but later designs were based on those of the Savonnerie workshops, although simpler.
Aubusson rug Jason Nazmiyal
auction pool, auction ring, knockout. A group of individuals (usually dealers) attending an auction who agree not to bid against each other in order to lower the auction price. One individual bids for the group. The group holds another auction for group members only after the rugs are purchased. Individuals who do not bid successfully for the rugs in this second auction are compensated according to some predetermined rate depending on the spread between the first and second auction prices.
audience rug, triclinium. In certain Islamic countries, it was customary in important dwellings to arrange rugs in the main chamber as shown.
When a single rug is woven to represent this arrangement, it is known as an audience rug or triclinium rug (after the three couches surrounding the meal table in ancient Rome). These terms are not native to Islamic countries nor do they correctly suggest the function of the rug in a household.
Audience rug
Tabriz audience rug Sothebys
Austria. A factory for hand-knotted carpets was set up in Vienna in 1810 and production continued through 1929.
Austrian carpet (detail) Peter Willborg
Avanos. See “Cappadocia.”
Avar. An ethnic group of Daghestan in the Caucasus. Their religion is Sunni Muslim. In the nineteenth century, they wove rugs and kilims (davaghins). Many have a distinctive design of angular branching structures or
