Vintage Turkish Rug in Bergama Design

Origin: The vicinity of the town of Ayvacık, Çanakkale Province, Northwestern Turkey.

Age: 1980s to early 1990s, about 30-40 years old.

Design: This rug was woven as part of an initiative called DOBAG, a Turkish acronym for Natural Dye Research and Development Project (Dogal Boya Arastirma ve Gelistirme Projesi). The project revitalized the tradition of using natural dyes in rug weaving, which at the end of the 20th century had turned to poor quality and garish synthetic dyes. Rugs were woven in several villages of this region with traditional techniques, some of which were modern adaptations of traditional design of the area, and some of which stayed more close to reproducing 19th century designs. This rug is woven based on 19th century pieces from nearby Bergama (see a comparable image below). The design is very geometric in nature and features a large central square medallion with four surrounding hexagonal medallions (usually referred to as guls). The field is filled with many symbols of flowers, suns and stars, "rams horn," trees of life, and more. Five borders feature more plants, stars, and geometric symbols of protection. The rug is incredibly detailed with many small designs.

Colors: All natural plant dyes that are deeply saturated. Shades of blue from Indigo (indigofera tinctoria, also known as true indigo.) Shades of red, pink and salmon from madder root (rubia tinctorum, or dyer’s madder). Yellow has several possible sources including pomegranate rind, onion skins, vine leaves, and weld (reseda luteola). Greens from overdying blue and yellow. Orange from overdying red and yellow. Natural undyed ivory and natural undyed brown. Black/brown probably from dark wool also dyed with indigo and/or walnut husk.

Foundation: Wool warp and double wool weft, with flatwoven bands on the ends. I tied the fringe ends in a decorative way to keep them neat and laying flat.

Pile: Very densely knotted wool pile of medium depth. The dark colors of the rug were shaved after the rug was woven to give it an antique textured appearance of a 19th century rug, though the rug is not antique.

Knotting: Symmetrical.

Size: Almost square at 4 feet 10 inches by 5 feet 5 inches, excluding fringe ends. Fringe adds about 6 inches on either end, for 6 feet 5 inches total on the long side.

Condition: Excellent condition and like new in appearance, other than one small area of fringe loss. Freshly washed.