Floor covering (‘Yolluk’ / Runner). Kilim. From the Konya region, 18th or early 19th century.
Woven on a nomadic loom: two long symmetric strips, put together afterwards. The accurate accordance of the motifs of the upper and the lower half, indicates that the weaver was a skilled and experienced one.

The design is inspired on a particular type of prayer rug, with seven or ten prayer niches that are piled up vertically. On this kilim the number of niches is ten; they are marked out by the white sections. The global design joins together a total of four prayer rugs, which are facing each other two by two.

A ‘kilim’ is a kind of flat tapestry-woven carpet.
Kilims are produced by tightly interweaving the warp and weft strands of the weave to produce a flat surface with no pile. Kilim weaves are tapestry weaves, technically weft-faced plain weaves, that is, the horizontal weft strands are pulled tightly downward so that they hide the vertical warp strands.
When the end of a color boundary is reached, the weft yarn is wound back from the boundary point. Thus, if the boundary of a field is a straight vertical line, a vertical slit forms between the two different color areas where they meet. For this reason, most Turkish kilims can be classed as "slit woven" textiles. Slits produce very sharp-etched designs, emphasizing the geometry of the weave. Weaving strategies for avoiding slit formation, such as interlocking, produce a more blurred design image.
The weft strands, which carry the visible design and color, are almost always wool, whereas the hidden warp strands can be either wool or cotton. The warp strands are only visible at the ends, where they emerge as the fringe. This fringe is usually tied in bunches (and sometimes into more elaborate structures), to ensure against loosening or unraveling of the weave.

Correspondent: J.M.Criel, Antwerpen.
Source: ‘Kilim catalogue’ – Güran Erbek (DÖSÍM - Kültür Bakanlığı/Ministry of Culture .