Kaschmar | 136 x 88 cm | Nr. Z-2813

Kaschmar

Delivery time	2 days
Origin	Persia
Dimensions	136 cm x 88 cm (= 1.2 m²)
Construction	hand-knotted
Material	Pile: wool with mercerised cotton Weft & Warp: cotton
knots	300.000
Year of manufacture	2005
Condition	pre-owned, but in very good condition (cleaned & restored)
Edition	one-of-a-kind piece

Origin

The town of Kaschmar lies in eastern Persia in the province of Khorasan and is the capital of the district of the same name. It was originally called Turschis and was renamed Kaschmar in the time of Reza Shah. That is why Kaschmar rugs are sometimes still traded under their old name, Turschis.

Until a good twenty years ago, it was mainly the Herati pattern that was knotted here, which was then taken up above all by the nearby provenances (source, origin) of Mood and Birjand. Today the so-called Sirchaki pattern prevails. The Sirchaki pattern depicts antique excavation finds such as vases, weapons, jugs, bowls and the like, usually on a blue or beige ground. The arrangement is almost always four-fold symmetrical with a central medallion that is occasionally adorned with a small scene. All of this is framed by a very pronounced main border. The medallions are sometimes asymmetrical and depict landscapes.

In more recent times, however, rugs with all-over patterns and rugs with the Nain pattern have also been knotted in Kaschmar, in the beige-and-blue colour combinations typical of the provenance. You can recognise these Kaschmar Nains by their deep pile. Kaschmar rugs have a fairly coarse knot density, look somewhat coarse-grained and the pile is relatively long.

Material

The pile of this Kaschmar was hand-knotted from high-quality new wool. Individual details of the pattern are also brought out by the sheen of mercerised cotton.
New wool is obtained by shearing live sheep. New wool is a renewable, natural raw material with a number of impressive qualities: thanks to the wool's natural grease content, the surface repels droplets of water and is therefore naturally proofed against dirt. Wool also offers excellent thermal insulation, helps regulate the indoor climate and dampens sound.
Cotton consists of lustrous fibres filled with cell sap. When this dries after the harvest, the surface of the fibre curls and loses its sheen through the refraction of light that results. In the middle of the 19th century, John Mercer invented the mercerisation process named after him. In the course of mercerisation, the cotton is held under tension in cold, concentrated caustic soda and takes on a new, higher-grade fibre structure. Mercerised cotton has shortened fibres with a round cross-section. The refined fabric no longer shrinks and is a pleasure for its high dimensional stability. The altered refraction of light gives it a silky sheen. Mercerised cotton also takes up dye more readily and is considerably more tear-resistant than the original material. Because mercerisation is laborious and costly, only high-quality cotton fibres are given this finish. Owing to the silky sheen of the yarn, mercerised cotton is, like viscose, often referred to as "artificial silk". The colloquial term "artificial silk" is, however, not permitted under the German Textile Labelling Act (Textilkennzeichnungsgesetz, TKG).

The weft and warp threads of this Kaschmar are made of cotton. The versatile material is tear-resistant and elastic, which makes it particularly well suited to a hard-wearing foundation.

Condition

This Kashmar has a story to tell. The pile is worn in places. It was knotted in around 2005. We have cleaned it thoroughly and restored it with care. As a result it is – despite its age – in very good condition.