Hereke in pure silk | 57 x 40 cm | Nr. Z-973

Floral Hereke in pure silk, terracotta with border and paradise garden pattern

Origin	Turkey
Dimensions	57 cm x 40 cm (= 0.23 m²)
Construction	hand-knotted
Material	Pile: pure silk Weft & Warp: pure silk
knots per m²2	1.100.000
Pile height	3mm
Year of manufacture	2010
Colour	Terracotta, dark green
Edition	one-of-a-kind piece

Origin

Very valuable silk rugs come from the Turkish town of Hereke. The tradition was fostered by the art-loving Sultan Abd-ul-Medjid (reigned 1839 - 1861). In 1844 he had the court workshops moved back from Cairo to Hereke. Hand-knotted Hereke silk rugs are among the finest rugs in the world and are knotted at densities of up to 6 million knots per m². Thanks to the knotting technique, incidentally, the pattern is just as clearly visible on the back as it is on the front. At renowned art auction houses, antique Turkish rugs fetch top prices.

Typical motifs on Hereke rugs are flowers, branches and leaves, as well as birds, the tree of life and the so-called Mehrab or Mihrab pattern, a prayer niche shown together with oil lamps. Alongside traditional motifs and typically Ottoman or Turkish patterns, Hereke silk rugs are today also knotted with more modern designs suited to contemporary taste. Typical colours for Hereke silk rugs are a deep dark blue, a radiant red, a lively green, a luminous yellow and a range of natural tones in every shade.

Pattern

The paradise garden design is a stylised depiction of a traditional Persian garden. The Greek word "paradeisos" goes back to the Middle Persian word "pardēs". Originally the word referred to the Persian royal gardens, and only in the biblical context did it take on the connotation of the garden of God. The fertile, artfully laid-out royal gardens were home to a wide variety of exotic plants and animals. They are enclosed by a wall, symbolic of the separation between heaven and earth. Paradise gardens are places of veneration and symbols of status. Traditional Persian gardens were rectangular, with a river or body of water running from north to south and from east to west, forming a cross that divides the garden into four sections. Roofed pavilions or structures and raised walkways for viewing the garden from above were just as common as fountains and waterfalls symbolising eternal life. In rugs with a paradise garden motif – like this one – the depiction of water, so precious in arid regions, plays a prominent role.

The overall impression is dominated by terracotta and dark green. The border is worked in terracotta and dark green.

Material

The silk of this Hereke's pile makes the colours of the pattern glow in ever-changing facets, depending on how the light falls. It turns this Hereke into a true jewel and creates an atmosphere in the room that is cosy and at the same time highly elegant and refined. Silk is obtained by hand from the cocoons of the silkworm. Because the individual silk filaments are extremely long, very fine yarns can be spun that are light in weight yet still tear-resistant. Fine yarn allows smaller knots to be tied and therefore more intricate patterns to be created. That is why the finest rugs in the world are hand-knotted from pure silk. In this Hereke even the foundation is made of pure silk. Thanks to the thin but hard-wearing material of the weft and warp threads, a particularly fine knotting and therefore a particularly fine pattern are possible.