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Knotted Pile
Knotted pile
structures are, of course,
used for the wide range of plush pile carpets popularly known as Oriental
rugs. But tribal weavers have also knotted tent bags and saddlebags,
saddle covers, animal trappings, cushions, door hangings, tent girths and
other articles. Sometimes knotted pile
has been combined with one or more of the flat weaves.
To form the pile,
small segments of colored yarn are attached firmly to pairs of warps. The
Asian or North African weaver works with the loose end of a continuous
yarn, wrapping each individual knot and then cutting the yarn before
starting the next knot. (This differs from the processes used by European
and North American weavers who make flossa
or rya pile rugs.) After each row of
knotting, one or more wefts are inserted and packed down tightly. The
precise manner in which this is done determines the rug's flexibility,
thickness, and durability.
Knots of two basic types have
been used throughout Asia and North Africa: asymmetrical
and symmetrical knots. The first, the
asymmetrical knot, sometimes called
the "Persian" or "Senneh"
knot, is superb when fine design detail is desired, because these can be
closely packed. Not true "knots," each short yarn segment is wrapped
around two warps, but only encircles one of these completely. Either the
right or left warp may be enclosed. Asymmetrical knots predominate in
Iranian, Central Asian, Indian, and Chinese production. On workshop
carpets, alternate warps are often pushed behind to allow a more compact
structure. This is done by alternating a heavy, stiff weft yarn with a
finer, more flexible and sinuous weft. Sometimes three-weft sequences are
used. These dense constructions are described as having
depressed warps.
Symmetrical knots
are inherently more secure, and thus are excellent for coarser weaves. The
pile yarn wraps around a pair of warps from opposite directions, and the
ends emerge together, between these warps. In knot-making terminology,
this is a "clove hitch." Symmetrical knots are typical in Turkish and
Caucasian rugs, but they also appear in some Turkmen rugs, some North
African weavings, and a good many Persian village rugs. In older rug
literature, symmetrical knots have been called "Turkish" or "Ghiordes"
knots.
Other kinds of
knotting have been used in more isolated rug- weaving areas like Tibet and
Morocco's Middle Atlas Mountains. Tufted rugs made with punches or tufting
guns on pre-woven fabrics in China have sometimes have been confused with
hand-knotted carpets. With tufting, no warps are encircled completely, and
the backs of these rugs are usually sprayed or painted with adhesives to
secure the pile yarns.
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