or 8 by 10 feet.
carpet beater. A paddle, usually made of wire or wicker, used to beat rugs to remove soil or dust. See “dusting.”
Carpet beater
carpet beetle. Attegenus piceus. A black beetle that feeds on the keratin in wool or hair when the beetle is in its larval state.
Carpet beetle
carpet loom. Generally, carpet looms differ from other basic looms only in that the frame and beam structure is of stronger members so as to tension the heavier yarns used for rug warps. The simplest form is a horizontal ground loom in which beams are attached to pegs driven into the ground. This is a primitive loom, formerly used by nomads. The horizontal frame loom con sists of frame members and beams arranged parallel to the ground. The weaver sits on the completed portion of the rug as it is woven.
Vertical looms may have fixed or roller beams. With fixed beams, a scaffold arrangement is used to raise the seat of the weaver as the work area rises on the loom. With roller beams, warp is unwound from the upper roller beam and the finished portion is wound onto the lower roller beam as the work progresses. With all looms, some device is used to maintain the tension of the warps. These include wedges, twisted ropes and levers, ratchets and pawls, screw mechanisms, turnbuckles, and weights. See “loom” and “shed.”
Carpet loom
Warp tensioning by wedges
Horizontal ground loom
carpet moth, webbing moth. Tineola bisseliella. The larval form of the moth feeds on wool or hair. Wool rugs that are out of the light are subject to infestation and damage from this insect.
Carpet moth
carpet page. Pages of illuminated manuscript of the Hiberno-Saxon school of the eighth and nineth centuries. The pages are covered with intricate interlacing and scroll work, sometimes including ciphers. The designs suggest arabesques in carpets.
Carpet page from the Book of Kells
carpet slave. A decorative weight placed on a rug to keep it flat and prevent it from shifting. Used in India.
carpet tiles. Any power-loomed carpet cut in squares and finished so that the squares can be butted to cover larger areas.
carthamin. The essential yellow dye pigment derived from the safflower. See “safflower.”
cartoon. A grid on paper with cells colored to guide rug weavers in selecting colored pile yarns when tying knots to execute a rug design. Usually, each cell represents a knot. See “buli,” “design plate,” “loom drawing,” “naqsh,” and “talim.”
Carpet loom with cartoon Azerbaijan Rugs
cartouche. An enclosed area in the field or border of a rug, often containing an inscription, though other design elements may be so enclosed. The outline of the cartouche is usually a rectangle with rounded, cut, or scalloped corners. See “inscription.”
Cartouche border. Any border containing repeated cartouches or cartouches alternating with other design elements.
Cartouche border
cartouche carpet. See “compartment rug.”
Casablanca. A city of Morocco, a source of contemporary factory rugs. See “Morocco.”
casemaking moth. Tinea pellionella. The larvae of this moth feed on wool and hair. Wool rugs that are out of the light are subject to infestation and damage from this insect.
cashmere. See “Kashmir goat.”
castellated border. See “crenellated border.”
çatal (Turk.). A tool used to beat down weft.
Çatal Hüyük. The site of a neolithic settlement in central Anatolia. Archaeological excavation has uncovered painted walls and artifacts. Carbonized fabric from this site has been identi fied as linen. Images and designs suggest the worship of a mother goddess. James Mellaart, an archaeologist who worked at this site, theorized that some designs in contemporary Anatolian kilims are ultimately derived from these neolithic images of a mother goddess. This theory is disputed and the credibility of Mellaart’s archaeological evidence has been challenged. See “elibelinde.”
catechu dye, cutch. This brown dye is made from the heartwood of Acacia catechu, a tree. Catechu dye was used in rugs of India.
caterpillar rugs. A nineteenth-century American rug consisting of accordion-folded strips of fabric stitched to a fabric backing.
çatma, chatma. Orginally, an Ottoman fabric in which the motif was brocaded in silver-wrapped thread, rendered in raised velvet. Generally, a technically superior and dense form of velvet. Cushion covers were made from this fabric. Some yastik designs may derive from these cushion covers. See “kadife.”
Çatma panel (detail) Sothebys
Caucasus. Formerly, southern Russia, an area bounded by the Caspian Sea on the east and the Black Sea on the west. The Caucasus mountain range, from the northwest to the southeast, diagonally divides the region. The area south of the mountain range is termed the Transcaucasus. This is the primary rug-producing area. The population is of varied ethnic origin. Rugs and carpets are woven by Azeri Turks, Kurds, and Armenians. Travelers refer to rug production in the Caucasus in the fifteenth century, and there are Dragon carpets from the seventeenth century attributed to the Caucasus. Rug production was a major cottage industry in the nineteenth century.
Rugs are brightly colored and generally have geometric designs. The symmetric knot is used with average knot densities ranging from 60 per square inch for Kazaks to 114 per square inch for Kuba rugs. Pile is wool. Warps are undyed. With few exceptions, these rugs have two or more wefts between each row of knots. Rugs with cotton foundations from the Caucasus have higher knot densities than those with wool foundations.
There is contemporary pile rug production in cooperative rug factories in Azerbaijan, Daghestan, and Armenia. The largest producer is Armenia. Designs are traditional or modern variations of traditional designs. Depending on commercial grade, knot densities vary from 78 knots per square inch to 162 knots per square inch. Export of these rugs was handled by a division of the Russian agency, Novoexport. After export, these rugs receive a chemical wash to improve their
