Kashmiri Rugs:  Expressions of Esteem

Pandemic or no pandemic Kashmir’s economy has always been fragile for one reason or another and depends largely on its array of provincial crafts. The art of carpet making was acquired by Kashmiri weavers from the migrants of Samarkand, Persia (mainly Iran) and other Central Asian countries but by and by they excelled in it and eventually conjure up their unique identity by imbuing the hand-knotted rugs with their silken craftsmanship.    

                                                                                             – Saurabh Sharma            

Oriental Legacy:

For a long period Persia remained at the helm of oriental countries involved in the art of producing avant-grade carpets and tempted the travelers around the world to lay their hands on them as a souvenir to flaunt their aesthetic temperaments. By and by trade led migration of craftsmen towards Himalayan regions, cross cultural exchange was inevitable but Kashmiri artisans excelled in the technique of hand knotted weaving and added the sheen of silk embroidery to make a rug look like a wizard.

Weaving Process 

Kashmiri carpets are hand knotted, and are primarily made using pure wool, pure silk and occasionally wool and silk blends. The origin of hand knotted carpets locally known as “Kal baffi” dates back to the 15th century after which it progressively attained the high degree of perfection. The Silk carpet is generally woven with mulberry silk and its quality is tested based on the number of knots it has, for 600-900 knots per square inch ranks a very high quality and durability. It demands a lot of menial work and takes at least 8 to 10 months for industrious weaving in making an intricate and good quality carpet. The finesse in the carpet comes from their combined efforts of family operating the handloom in order to conjure up the thing of beauty. 

Types of Kashmir carpets

Silk on Silk Carpets: Silk on Silk Carpets are those wherein the warp and weft used are both silk threads. Silk on Silk carpet refers to a pure silk carpet with 100% silk and no other material blend in it.

Silk on Cotton Carpets: By Silk on Cotton Carpets is meant that the weft used is silk threads and the warp used in this carpet is cotton thread yarn. It is a blend of silk and cotton.

Wool Carpets: Hand woven, knotted wool yarn is used in these carpets. The warp as well as the weft is pure wool.

Staple Carpets: Staple Carpets are hand woven carpets that use synthetic silk or merchandised cotton that is silk like soft but not pure silk. These carpets have a lustrous feel to it.

What makes a Kashmiri rug aesthetically appealing?

Kashmir rugs are renowned to have bright, jewel-like color tones such as sapphire blue, ruby red, emerald green, aquamarine, amethyst, and ivory. Rugs from Kashmir are traditionally made in oriental, floral designs that typically involve significant and culturally important motifs such as the paisley, chinar tree, (the oriental plane) and tree-of-life. Most of these designs are rooted in the Kashmiri way of life and are a symbolic representation of the age-old Kashmir tradition of hospitality, warmth, and love.

There is a diction in Kashmir folklore that a home is incomplete without a soul – a Kashmir carpet. The ethos of Kashmir culture is often represented in the motifs of a Kashmir rug. Although, the art of making these gorgeous rugs is not native to Kashmir and was first introduced nearly 400 years back by the Mughal rulers in India.Yet the indigenous brilliance of the local crafts-persons has made Kashmir carpets one of the most sought after works of art in the world.

How to pick the right thread without being swindled

Oriental carpet buying demands a certain amount of knowledge about the intricacies of making process, else casual carpet buyers may run a great risk of getting fleeced by imposters. Though  given the gaping economic disparity between the West and the carpet-making rest, the damage will be slight – and perhaps even a justified kind of post-colonial revenge. But the exchange between you and the carpet dealer will reduce to barely a disguised duel.

1. Knot Count

An oriental, or ‘exotic’, carpet, rug or mat is made of natural fibres that have been hand-knotted or hand-woven on a loom – it means nothing else. You will conk the mystery by turning it and look under the carpet. The knots on a machine-made carpet will be suspiciously uniform. Knot count is also often posited as a determinant of quality, and while it is not infallible – some valuable contemporary designs are very coarsely knotted – a good rule of thumb with traditional rugs, at least, is to look for upwards of 120 knots a square inch.

2. The Fibre

Figuring your ‘silk’ carpet is boiled cotton rather strips it of its lustre. The guidebooks often suggest the ‘burn’ test not only to ascertain the fibre but also, hopefully, to give the fauxy impression to the dealer into thinking that you are other than a carpet buying naive, but it is of no avail as some dealers are so used to the request they virtually whip out the matches before you cross their portal – but you should still ask to burn an unpicked knot or snippet of fringe: silk and wool smoulder whereas their substitutes will catch alight.

 

3. The Colour

Authentic rugs are dyed with natural dyes and hence colours which come to life are ever so lively, synthetic dyes can never match the earthy evocation of their natural alternatives: among them cochineal red, from the crushed, dried insects, blue from the indigo plant, henna orange, hollyhock purple, pomegranate yellow and gallnut black. How to tell the difference?  Natural dyes ‘should be as bright and rich in colour as a bunch of flowers. There shouldn’t be any one colour fighting for attention.’ One should avoid ‘hot’ colours, such as ‘a red that’s as hot as a tomato. If it’s the red of a tulip, then that’s a vegetable dye colour.’ Oranges and hot pinks will definitely be chemical dyes, she says. The dyes also differ in the way they penetrate the fibre. Bend the carpet so as to expose individual threads from the base to the tip. Synthetic dyes will colour them evenly whereas natural ones tend to show variance.

Market Scenario

The current pandemic, apart from the synthetic, cheap and machine-made ripoffs of the Kashmiri carpet has impacted the 700-year-old art of kashmir. The valley still retains a rich tradition of the artisans wove carpets, embroidered pashminas and hand painted papier mache. 

At the peak of its business, with a clientele spread over Europe, the US and West Asia, there were around 100,000 weavers in nearly 30,000 handlooms creating expensive silk and fine Cashmere carpets.

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