THE SPINNING WHEEL-
THIS IS A 130 YEAR OLD SPINNING WHEEL FOR THE PURE SILK COCOONS I WENT TO FIND IT IN THE CITY OF BURSA IN 1986.AS YOU KNOW BURSA IS THE CENTER OF PURE COCOON SILK PRODUCTION.IT IS LOCATED ON THE SLOPES OF MT.ULUDAĞ WHICH REACHES TO 2500 METERS WHERE PEOPLE GO SNOW SKIING.
AT THAT TIME I WAS LAYING THE FOUNDATIONS OF A WEAVING SCHOOL IN SULTANAHMET REGION OF ISTANBUL.WE NEEDED ONE OF THESE SPINNING WHEELS FOR OUR SCHOOL.I ALSO BROUGHT WITH ME ONE OF THE LAST EXISTING EXPERTS WHO COULD SPIN THAT WHEEL FROM MANY COCOONS INTO SILK THREADS.
AS WE KNOW ONE OF THE FACTORS WHICH ESTABLISHES THE PRICE OF A HAND -KNOTTED CARPET IS HOW MANY KNOTS IT HAS PER CM2 OR INCH 2 AND THAT IS DETERMINED BY THE SPINNING WHEEL EXPERT.AT THAT TIME THE FINEST AN EXPERT HAD SPUN WAS GIVING US A FILAMENT WHICH WAS FINE ENOUGH TO EXECUTE A PURE SILK CARPET WITH 676 DOUBLE KNOTS(TURKISH OR GHIORDES KNOT) TO A CM 2 WHICH WOULD BE 4360 DOUBLE KNOTS IN AN INCH 2 APPROXIMATELY AND IN THE GUINESS BOOK RECORDS IT BELONGED TO A HEREKE ALL SILK CARPET.IT STILL DOES WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM TECHNOLOGY WITH 2500 DOUBLE KNOTS TO A CM 2 WHICH UNBELIEVABLY IS 16125 DOUBLE KNOTS TO AN INCH 2 AND STILL BELONGS TO A HEREKE TURKISH PURE SILK CARPET.
MORE KNOTS TO THE SQUARE INCH MAKES A CARPET MORE EXPENSIVE BECAUSE OF THE TIME SPENT IN PRODUCTION HOWEVER IT DOES NOT YIELD TO ATLANTA MAGNIFICIENT CARPET AWARDS.THIS IS A LONG STORY AND MAY BE YOU CAN CHECK WITH THE INSTITUTION GIVING THESE AWARDS AS TO WHAT CRITERIAS THEY DEPEND UPON BEFORE PRESENTING THIS AWARD EACH YEAR .THIS IS WHY OUR COLLECTION ON THIS WEBSITE IS UNIQUE AND IS A REAL HIDDEN TREASURE.
MY NEXT BLOG WILL BE ON A HIDDEN TREASURE FROM CONSTANTINOPLE-