Old Kayseri | 199 x 90 cm | Nr. Z-3101

Floral old Kayseri runner, beige with border

Origin	Turkey
Dimensions	199 cm x 90 cm (= 1.791 m²)
Construction	hand-knotted
Material	Pile: wool (hand-spun, natural dyes) Weft & Warp: cotton
knots per m²2	150.000
Pile height	4mm
Year of manufacture	1940
Colour	Beige, Dark blue
Edition	one-of-a-kind piece

Origin

Kayseri (Caesarea in Latin, named in honour of the Roman emperor Tiberius) is the capital of the province of the same name in Cappadocia, Turkey. Kayseri rugs (also written Kaiseri rugs) are usually made of pure silk. They are very valuable and decorative. Kayseri rugs are typically knotted in smaller sizes and used as wall hangings or prayer rugs. This old Kayseri is around 80 years old and a real piece for enthusiasts.

Pattern

The ornate border forms a wonderful contrast with the centre and shapes the transition at the edge of the rug.

The lavish floral motifs of this Kayseri are elegantly drawn and full of variety. The graceful plant symbols, depicting blossoms, leaves and branches, are artfully intertwined.

The background of this Kayseri is beige. The border is worked in dark blue, light red and beige.

Condition

This Kayseri has a story to tell. The fringes could do with a repair. It was hand-knotted around 1940. We have cleaned it thoroughly and restored it with great care. Despite its age, it is therefore in very good condition.

Material

The technique used to prepare the materials for the pile of this Kayseri is over 200 years old. The wool was dyed with natural colours and spun by hand. Dyeing with natural or plant dyes is more involved, more expensive and more time-consuming than dyeing with chemical colours. For a luminous red, for example, you need around one kilo of ground madder root as dyestuff per kilo of wool. For a strong yellow that isn't too pale, you even need two kilograms of weld per kilo of wool. Spinning the wool is labour-intensive and takes time too. What's more, fewer and fewer people still know how to spin wool by hand.

But the effort is worth it: dyed with natural colours, the high-quality wool keeps its natural oils. Wool that has been naturally dyed and hand-spun creates fascinating, shimmering patterns. The charm of hand-spun wool, with its slight irregularities and natural shades, comes into its own as a contrast in modern interiors, but equally in rooms furnished in a more traditional or country-house style. The weft and warp threads of this Kayseri are made of cotton. This versatile material is tear-resistant and elastic, which makes it particularly well suited to a hard-wearing foundation.