İdil Sanat ve Dil Dergisi
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Cilt 7, Sayı 46  Haziran 2018  (ISSN: 2146-9903, E-ISSN: 2147-3056)
Sevim ARSLAN

NO Makale Adı
1527340507 PATTERN AND THE TECHNICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF KUMKAPI CARPETS

16th century is considered to be the brightest era of the Turkish carpet art.
These carpets are well known as the ottoman court carpets in literature, which
display an enrichment, progress and change and, thus, started a completely
new style in carpets. The art- related institution “Ehl-I Hiref-I Hassa and
“Nakkaşan-I Hassa” (imperial illuminators) and “Cemaat-I Kaliçebafan-I
Hassa (the community of imperial carpet weavers) was founded within the
government structure at that time.
The Ottomans gave great importance to the cultural heritage, artworks and
artist of the conquered places. The craftsmen were brought to the Ottoman
Palace from such regions such as Tabriz, Kahire and Sivas, Kayseri from the
Anatolia. This organization created the Ottoman court style. This style reflects
parallel features within the book arts, illumination, tile, wood, fabric and
carpet designs.
This period was the time that started to establish ateliers for weaving carpets
of the Ottoman royalty in Istanbul. Until the 20 century, Kumkapı, Topkapı,
Üsküdar and İstinya were the regions where carpet ateliers were observed in
İstanbul. In the 19 century, Kumkapı region became an important production
center where extraordinary high-quality silk carpets were woven.
At the present time, we come across with Kumkapı carpets in private
collections and they are becoming renowned for their superior qualities. A
considerable number of these carpets are included in private collections in
Europe and United States. Kumkapı carpets are the woven silk carpets by
craftsmen. These carpets which have an extraordinary high-quality technical
characteristic which are not encountered in traditional Turkish carpet arts; Silk
knots have been used as well as gold and silver (kılabdan) unknoted weaving
technique. The research was conducted with reference to the Kumkapı Rugs from the Arkas Collection” exhibition, which is a part of Arkas Carpet Collection.

Keywords: Carpet, Art, Kumkapı, Palace, Technic