used the asymmetric knot. Designs are repeated geometric elements. Rugs are often without side borders. The tribe produces flatwoven blankets, curtains, shawls, saddle bags, and cushion covers.
Beni M’guild rug Lloyd Rowcroft
Beni M’tir. A Berber tribe of the Middle Atlas region of Morocco. Their rugs are borderless and designs consist of repeated geometric elements. Weavers of this tribe use the asymmetric knot.
Berber knot. A rug knot used in Berber tribal weavings of the Middle Atlas region of Morocco. The Berber knot encircles two warps twice. On the front of the rug, tufts emerge in diagonal opposing directions from under a diagonal loop of the knot. The Berber knot may be offset one warp in either direction. It may also be used in combination with the symmetric knot tied on four warps. The amount of yarn used in the Berber knot is greater than that used in either the symmetric or asymmetric knots. The Berber knot is more durable than the asymmetric or symmetric knot.
Berber knot
Berber rugs. See “Morocco.”
berde (Greek). A flatwoven doorway hanging of northern Greece woven in three panels and stitched together.
berdelik. Textiles, including rugs, used as wall hangings. See “laicerul.”
Bergama, Bergamo, Pergamum (Latin). A city of northwestern Anatolia (ancient Pergamum), near the Aegean Sea, with a long tradition of rug weaving. Fifteenth-century rugs have been attributed to Bergama. A wide variety of designs are identified as Bergama. The term is sometimes applied to western Anatolian rugs of indefinite origin. Some Transylvanian rugs of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are thought to derive from Bergama. Contemporary Bergama rugs have designs that suggest Caucasian types or are all-over geometricized floral patterns. Rugs of the Yağçibedir tribe are woven in the region and the nearby towns of Yuntdağ and Kozak are known for their rugs. Kilims from this area usually have geometric designs suggesting those of the Seljuk period.
Bergama rug James Allen
beshek, beşik (Turk.). Bedding bag. See “mafrash.”
Beshir, Beshire. A town on the Amu Darya river in west Turkes tan. Rugs made in the area of Bokhara and along the Amu Darya into northern Afghanistan are often described as Beshir. Most of these rugs are thought to be woven by Ersari Turkmen. This general attribution is disputed by some scholars. Turkmen rugs labeled Beshir have designs derived from Ikat patterns, the Herati pattern, the Mina Khani pattern and 2-1-2 medallions. A large variety of geometric motifs and boteh patterns are also found in these rugs. A distinctive prayer rug with a large mihrab containing geometricized floral patterns is considered Beshiri. Beshiri rugs are woven with the asymmetric knot.
Beshir namazlyk Sothebys
Bessarabian carpet (detail) Sothebys
Bessarabia. A region of southwest Russia bordering Romania on the south and the Black Sea on the east. “Bessarabian” is used loosely to describe Polish, Rumanian, and Bulgarian hand-knotted rugs. Bessarabia itself is the source of kilims similar to those of Moldavia. Inscriptions on Bessarabian kilims are in the Cyrillic alphabet. See “Moldavia.”
Bezalel. Rugs made at the Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts in Jerusalem between 1906 and 1931. These rugs, produced by Jewish weavers, showed traditional Jewish ritual motifs, scenes from the Old Testament and conventional Persian designs. They were in scribed in Hebrew “Bezalel Yerushalem” or “Marvadia Yerushalem.” These rugs were woven with the asymmetric knot. See “synagogue rug.”
Bezalel rug Sothebys
Bhadohi, Badahoi. A city of northern India near Mirzapur and Benares. It is one of the major modern rug production centers of India. Bhadohi rugs are generally copies of Persian models with floral motifs. These rugs are woven on a cotton foundation using the asymmetric knot at densities between 30 and 225 knots per square inch.
The Bhadohi method of counting knots is uniquely complicated. A knot count is represented thus: 5/40. The first figure (5) is termed bis. It produces the horizontal or weft-wise knot count. Bis times 11% added to the bis is the horizontal or weft-wise knot count. Thus (5x.11)+5=5.55 knots per inch weft-wise. Bhutan is the term for the second figure (40). It produces the vertical or warp-wise knot count. Bhutan times 33.3% added to the bhutan and divided by 6 is the vertical or warp-wise knot count. Thus: ((40x.333)+40)/6=8.88 knots per inch warp-wise. The knot density represented by 5/40 is 5.55x8.88 or 48.8 knots per square inch. See “India.”
Bhutan. A country located between Tibet to the north and India on the south. Bhutan is the source of rugs woven by Tibetan refugees who settled there after the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1959.
bhutan. See “Bhadohi.”
bibibaff (Persian, “grandmother’s weave”). Particularly fine weaving of Chahâr Mahâl. See “Chahâr Mahâl.”
Bibikabad, Ainabad. A village of the Hamadan region of Iran, northeast of Hamadan city. Rugs of this village often have boteh or Herati designs. They are single-wefted and woven with the symmetric knot. See “Hamadan.”
Bibikabad rug Jason Nazmiyal
Bidgeneh. A village of northwest Iran and a source of rugs similar to those of Bijâr. These are medallion rugs with pendants and spandrels.
Bidjar. See “Bijâr.”
Bidjov. See “Bijov.”
Bid Majnun. See “weeping willow design.”
Bigelow, Erastus Brigham (1814-1879). The American inventor of power looms for Brussels, Wilton, tapestry, and velvet carpeting. He established weaving mills in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York. His looms and mills greatly increased rug production in the 1840s.
Bijâr, Bidjar. A town of northwest Iran surrounded by many rug-weaving villages whose output is also labeled “Bijâr.” The area is inhabited by Kurds. Rugs of Bijâr and its immediate area are woven in a wide variety of patterns. Usually, in early rugs, three wefts are hammered down with heavy combs. One of these wefts is usually very heavy, so these rugs are very stiff due to great vertical knot packing. Later rugs have two wefts. Warps are completely offset and the knot is symmetric at densities of about 100 to 160 per square inch. Formerly, wool foundation was used. Contemporary rugs have a cotton foundation.
Bijâr was the source of a group of fine arabesque (Garrus design) rugs woven in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. Rugs with a stylized willow and cypress design were woven in Bijâr in the early twentieth century. Bijâr samplers are relatively common compared to samplers from other areas of Persia. Bijâr kilims are woven with the slit weave tapestry structure. Designs of large Bijâr kilims are sometimes similar to those of Bijâr pile weaves. Smaller kilims are similar in design to
