THE SECRETS OF ORIENTAL DESIGNS-PART ONE-
ORIENTAL DESIGNS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN TRANSBORDER.THIS EVALUATION OF MINE AT FIRST MAY COMPLICATE THE HEADING OF THIS BLOG.HOWEVER I WOULD LIKE YOU TO LEAN BACK IN YOUR SEAT;RELAX AND ENJOY AN ORIENTAL JOURNEY INTO THE BACKGROUND OF SOME OF THOSE DESIGNS.
OUR STORY BEGINS WITH THE DISCOVERY OF THE EARLIST HAND-KNOTTED CARPET OF ALL TIMES IN 1947.SERGEI RUDENKO;A RUSSIAN ARCHEOLOGIST WAS EXCAVATING A PREHISTORIC BURIAL MOUND(KURGAN) WHICH WAS ONCE USED BY PEOPLES IN SIBERIA AND CENTRAL ASIA IN THE VICINITY OF ALTAI MOUNTAINS WHICH ARE LOCATED BETWEEN RUSSIA AND CHINA REACHING TO AN ALTITUDE OF 4550 METERS.
IN ONE OF THOSE KURGANS WHICH WERE COVERED WITH ICE THE FINDINGS WERE BROUGHT OUT TO SUNLIGHT AND AFTER SOME TIME THEY MELTED AND THE SKELETON OF A MAN,HIS HORSE AND THE SADDLE ON THE HORSE ALL BECAME VISABLE.THEN THEY REALIZED THE SADDLE WAS COVERED BY A HAND-KNOTTED CARPET (A PICTURE OF WHICH CAN BE SEEN ON THE ICIHALI CERTIFICATE IN SECTION ''HOW TO BUY''PART 4 ''PURCHASING SAFELY'').THIS IS KNOWN AS THE PAZAYRK CARPET (NAMED AFTER THE LOCALITY) AND HAS BEEN TESTED BY USING THE CARBON 14 METHOD WHICH PUTS IT TO SOME 2500 YEARS BEFORE OUR TIMES TO THE AGE OF SOME TURKIC PEOPLES(EASTERN TURKS) WHO WERE NOMADS.
IN NOMADIC LIFE STYLE HORSEMEN WOULD MAKE THEIR LIVING BY TAKING THEIR HERDS TO DIFFERENT PASTURES AND IN THOSE FROZEN HIGH MOUNTAINS THEY WERE RAISING REINDEER,SO THIS PARTICULAR DESIGN SHOWS US SOME HORSEMEN RIDING ON THEIR HORSES WHILE OTHERS ARE WALKING RIGHT NEXT TO THOSE HORSES ON THE OUTER BORDER AS WELL AS A SERIES OF REINDEER WITHIN THE INNER BORDER OF THE SAME CARPET.THE 24 SQUARES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FIELD IS REMINISCENT OF OSIRIS(EGYPTIAN GOD OF FERTILITY AS WELL AS RESURRECTION);BECAUSE ACCORDING TO THEIR BELIEF ONE DAY THE MAN WOULD BE RESURRECTED AND THEN HE WOULD NEED HIS HORSE WAS WHY THEY WERE ALL BURIED TOGETHER.
THERE IS A MOVIE DONE BY PBS IN 2010;''THE JOURNEY OF MAN'' WITH DR.SPENCER WELLS;A GENETICIST OUT OF STANFORD UNIVERSITY WHICH FOLLOWS THE Y-CHROMOSOME OF MAN IN THE LAST FIFTY THOUSAND YEARS. YOU WILL LEARN HOW 90% OF ALL THE MEN IN THE WORLD TODAY COME FROM ONE Y-CHROMOSOME AND THE REST 10% COME FROM THE SECOND Y-CHROMOSOME.YOU MAY WONDER WHAT THIS HAS TO DO WITH CARPET DESIGNS THEN I WILL ASK YOU TO BE MORE PATIENT...IN THAT MOVIE SPENCER WELLS VISITS THE CHUKCHI ARCTIC NOMADIC TRIBE LIVING CLOSE TO THE BERING STRAIGHT RAISING REINDEER TODAY PRACTICALLY IS WHY THE REINDEER MOTIF IN THE PAZARYK CARPET ALL LINKS TOGETHER.HERE WE MAY BE TALKING ABOUT THE SIMILARITY OF LIFE STYLES OF THE CHUCHCHIS TO PAZARYK CULTURE THAT EXISTED TWENTY FIVE HUNDRED YEARS AGO HOWEVER SOME DAY WE MAY FIND OTHER CARPETS THAT WERE DONE BEFORE THE FAMOUS PAZARYK CARPET BECAUSE NOW WE HAVE DISCOVERED THAT DURING THE LAST ICE AGE SOME FIFTEEN TO TWENTY THOUSAND YEARS AGO WHEN ALASKA WAS CONNECTED TO SIBERIA BY THE NOW SUBMERGED LAND BRIDGE WHICH IS CALLED'' BERINGIA'' IS HOW THE NATIVE AMERICANS ESPECIALLY THE NAVAJOS CROSSED THE BERING STRAIGHT AND ENDED UP USING SOME OF OUR VERY OWN DESIGNS THAT WE USE.TODAY.THE TURKS,THE EUROPEANS,THE ASIANS AND THE NATIVE AMERICANS ALL GO BACK TO THE SAME Y-CHROMOSOME.THOSE NAVAJO AND TURKISH DESIGNS THAT ARE IDENTICAL WILL BE EXPLAINED IN PART TWO OF THE SECRETS OF ORIENTAL DESIGNS. THE PAZYRK CARPET TODAY IS IN LENINGRAD'S(TODAY IS CALLED SAINT PETERSBURG) HERMITAGE MUSEUM.
YOU MAY ATTEND SEMINARS OR LECTURES GIVEN BY DIFFERENT CARPET EXPERTS AND THERE MAY BE PROFESSIONAL DIFFERENCES AMONGST THEM.IN ONE PARTICULAR INCIDENT IN 2012 I MET A LADY FROM SAN FRANCISCO WHO WAS AN INSURANCE ADJUSTER BEFORE SHE RETIRED AND HER COMPANY ASKED HER TO GET 9 DIFFERENT APPRAISALS FROM CARPET EXPERTS IN THE BAY AREA.TO HER SURPRISE ALL NINE REPORTS HAD DIFFERENT QUOTATIONS AND WHEN SHE TRIED TO FIND OUT WHY IT WAS SO EACH ONE WOULD SAY ''HE DOES NOT KNOW MUCH''.THIS UNFORTUNATELY IS A GLOBAL DILEMMA AND CAN HAPPEN TO ANYONE ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.HOWEVER IT IS QUITE NORMAL ALMOST IN EVERY PROFESSION BECAUSE OF OUR INFORMATION CAPACITY AND THE PERSONAL DESIRE TO INVESTIGATE THE DETAILS IS NEVER EQUAL WHICH WILL BRING THE ''CORRECT PICTURE''.
THEREFORE BY FAVOR OF THOSE EXPERTS WHO ARE COMPLACENT WITH THEIR DECISIVE INTERPRETATION OF DESIGNS AS WELL AS THE KNOTTING TECHNIQUES,IF EVALUATING THE PRICE OF AN ORIENTAL HAND-MADE CARPET WAS AS EASY AS FORMATTING ALL THE TURKISH HAND-MADE CARPETS AS ''DOUBLE OR GHIORDES KNOTTED'' AND ALL THE OTHER ORIENTAL COUNTRIES CARPETS TO BE ''SENNA OR SINGLE KNOTTED OUR LIVES WOULD HAVE BEEN SO MUCH EASIER.BY THE SAME TOKEN ''COUNTING THE KNOTS'' PER SQUARE CM OR INCH AND SAY MORE KNOTS WILL MAKE A HAND-MADE CARPET MORE EXPENSIVE BECAUSE OF MORE LABOR AND EVEN THOUGH THAT IS PARTIALLY CORRECT;HOWEVER THAT IS ONLY ONE SIDE OF THE MEDALLION.ON THE OTHER SIDE BY FEELING OUR CLONED REPLICAS WHICH WERE NEVER COMPLETED WITH TOO MANY KNOTS AND THEY WERE GIVEN ALL THE SEVEN ATLANTA MAGNIFICIENT CARPET AWARDS IN THE LAST TEN YEARS IS WHEN YOU BEGIN TO REALIZE THAT THERE ARE OTHER CRITERIAS WHEN IT COMES TO EVALUATING A TURKISH HAND-KNOTTED ART WORK.NOW I CAN BEGIN TO TELL YOU WHY THE CINTEMANI DESIGN IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THIS DISCUSSION IN MY BLOG...
IT WAS PROBABLY IN THE LAST THREE DECADES IS WHEN ANNUAL AWARDS STARTED TO BE GIVEN TO THE BEST ORIENTAL HAND-MADE CARPETS AND LISTINGS APPEARED IN THE GUINNESS BOOK OF RECORDS.THAT IS WHEN THOSE ORIENTAL CARPETS BEGAN TO BE PROTECTED BY THEIR PRODUCERS AS A RESULT OF PATENT RIGHTS.THAT IS WHY THE PICTURES OF THE CARPETS THAT APPEAR IN THIS BLOG ARE SOMEWHAT TINTED.HOWEVER BEFORE THAT PERIOD COUNTRIES WERE IN A WAY BORROWING EACH OTHERS DESIGNS AND KNOTTING TECHNIQUES.TODAY THOSE SECRETS ARE LOCKED UP IN VAULTS.
THAT IS THE VERY REASON AS TO WHY I CHOSE THE CARPETS WITH CHINTEMANI DESIGNS. ORIGINALLY CHINTEMANI PATTERN COMES FROM CHINA AND IS COMPOSED OF TRIPLE BALL MOTIFS WHICH ARE COMBINED WITH CHINESE CLOUDS.THIS MOTIF IS ALSO KNOWN AS THE TIGER-SKIN PATTERN,A VERY APPROPRIATE SELECTION FOR A MONARCH WHO WAS FAMOUS FOR HIS ENORMOUS PHYSICAL STRENGTH,SPORTING CHARACTER AND DARING IN BATTLE.IT WAS ALSO USED EVEN AS A RELIGIOUS SYMBOL BY THE BUDDHISTS AND TAOISTS.
NOW LET US LISTEN TO MS.AYŞE ERDOĞDU OF TOPKAPI PALACE IN İSTANBUL AS TO HOW THIS CHINTEMANI AND OTHER CHINESE AND ASIAN DESIGNS CAME INTO THE OTTOMAN INVENTORY:''ACCORDING TO AŞIKPAŞAZADE,A FIFTEENTH CENTURY OTTOMAN HISTORIAN TELLS US THAT İVAZ PAŞA ,A VIZIER OF SULTAN MEHMET THE SECOND(FATİH SULTAN MEHMET),HAD BROUGHT TO THE TOPKAPI PALACE,PERSIAN CRAFTSMEN AND THAT HE WAS THE FIRST PERSON TO INTRODUCE CHINESE PORCELLAINS INTO THE OTTOMAN PALACE.FROM A RECORD DATING BACK TO 1514,WE LEARN THAT AMONG THE OBJECTS THAT SULTAN YAVUZ SELİM HAD TAKEN FROM THE PALACE OF SHAH ISMAIL OF PERSIA IN TABRIZ WHERE SOME 64 CHINESE PORCELLAINS,AFTER DEFEATING HIM ON THE 23RD. AUGUST 1514 AT THE BATTLE OF ÇALDIRAN.TODAY IN TOPKAPI PALACE OF ISTANBUL THERE ARE SOME 10358 PIECES OF CHINESE PORCELLAINS FROM THE SUNG,YUAN,MING AND QING DYNASTIES.''
ALSO SULTAN YAVUZ SELIM(FATHER OF SÜLEYMAN THE MAGNIFICIENT) BROUGHT 38 CRAFTSMEN TO İSTANBUL.THE PATTERNS WHICH WERE ORIGINALLY INVENTED BY THE CHINESE WERE BOUND TO INFLUENCE THE OTTOMAN ART.THE HATAI,CLOUD MOTIFS AS WELL AS ÇİNTEMANİ DESIGNS EFFECTED İZNİK PORCELLAINS FROM THE 15TH. TO THE 18TH.CENTURIES.THEN IN TIME THE INFLUENCE OF THESE PORCELLAINS WERE REFLECTED ONTO TURKISH CARPETS, TEXTILES AND POTTERY FROM IZNIK.THEREFORE THE OTTOMANS IMPORTED THE CINTEMANI DESIGN FROM CHINA BY WAY OF IRAN AND AS CARPETS,PORCELLAINS AND KAFTANS REEXPORTED THEM TO THE WORLD.THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I MEANT BY STATING ''DESIGNS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN TRANSBORDER''.
THEREFORE TO LOOK AT AN ORIENTAL HAND-MADE CARPET TODAY AND SAY THAT IS OF TURKISH OR IRANIAN ORIGINE BY ITS DESIGN OR KNOTTING TECHNIQUE TO ME IS NOT VERY PROFESSIONAL...IN PART TWO OF THIS BLOG I WILL SHARE WITH YOU THE PICTURE OF A PERSIAN TABRİZ WOOL CARPET WHICH WE HAVE CLONED IN WOOL-ON -COTTON( AS SAMSUN NUMBER 80002 )AND ALL SILK WHICH WAS PRODUCED IN THE 19TH.CENTURY USING TURKISH GHIORDES DOUBLE KNOTS AND EXPLAIN WHY IT IS UNFAIR TO LABEL IT AS PERSIAN....
TO WRAP IT ALL UP;LETS TAKE A LOOK AT THE PICTURES WE HAVE:
1-A 17TH.CENTURY CINTEMANI RUG ON DISPLAY TODAY IN PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART INV.NUMBER 43-28-5 PRODUCED IN SELENDI,WESTERN TURKEY REMINISCING US ITS COUNTERPARTS WITHIN THE BLACK CHURCH,BRASOV,ROMANIA.
2-THIS WAS THE SILK BROCADE KAFTAN THAT BELONGED TO SULTAN MURAD 4TH.(1623-1640) ON DISPLAY IN TOPKAPI PALACE INV.NUMBER 13/498.
3-THE İZNİK DISH WITH SOFTLY FOLIATED RIM CIRCA 1580-1585 IS ON DISPLAY TODAY AT THE GULBENKIAN FOUNDATION MUSEUM IN LISBON WITH INV.NUMBER 2240.
4-THE İZNİK WATER BOTTLE WITH GILT METAL MOUNTS,CIRCA 1580-1585 IS NOW ON DISPLAY IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM,LONDON WITH INV.NUMBER 78.12.30.466
LAST BUT NOT THE LEAST OF PART ONE I WOULD LIKE TO SAY THAT DESIGNS UNTIL THE LAST THREE DECADES WERE BORROWED; NOT JUST WITHIN THE SPHERE OF THE ORIENT BUT GLOBALLY AS WELL AND THAT WILL BE EXPLAINED BY THE SAME DESIGNS BEING USED WITHIN THE TURKIC TRIBES,THE TURKS AND THE NAVAJO NATIVE AMERICAN INDIANS IN PART TWO OF THIS BLOG.
MAY BE ONLY THEN WE CAN BETTER APPRECIATE THIS CULTURAL HERITAGE AS A BIRTHRIGHT IN ORDER TO SUPPORT AND BE A SPONSOR OF OUR LADIES;(IN TURKEY CHILD LABOUR IS NOT ALLOWED); FOR THE MOST IMPORTANT TANGIBLE ASSET AS INHERITANCE FROM OUR FOREFATHERS.WE SIMPLY CAN NOT BE THANKFUL ENOUGH FOR THE PATIENCE AND PASSION OUR LADIES HAVE SHOWN IN THE LAST TWENTYFIVE CENTURIES.