Multicolor Selendi Handwoven Cicim Kilim

A multicolored field of raised Anatolian motifs on a handwoven Selendi cicim kilim, 118 × 170 cm (3'10" × 5'7"), worked in cotton and wool in Türkiye and kept folded in a chest. Cicim belongs to the family of Anatolian flatweaves that decorate by addition — the ground is plain and the motif is put on top of it. Selendi weaving is small in scale and busy, with motifs repeated close together rather than arranged around a center, so at this size the whole field reads as one texture from standing height and separates into individual figures only when you crouch.

That is a property of the drawing rather than of the room. Multicolored is the accurate description: no tone was appointed to lead, and each motif row was worked in whatever the weaver had. Handwoven in Türkiye with both wool and cotton in the yarn.

01How it feels underfoot

In a mixed flatweave the cotton usually goes into the warp, where it holds a straighter line and does not stretch, while the wool goes wherever color is wanted. This kilim has never been used, so the surface is exactly as it came off the loom and the piece has yet to relax.

02From the hand of the weaver

Take it to a washer who handles old flatweaves and let them choose the method. Handwoven in Türkiye, in the Selendi manner, worked as cicim. Wool and cotton: cotton for a stable warp, wool for the color. Close-repeated multicolored motifs, raised above the ground weave. 118 × 170 cm (3'10" × 5'7") — a study, a hall, or one side of a bed. Reads as texture at standing height and as separate figures up close. Chest-kept: full color, and no give in it yet. Washing by a specialist in flatweaves. One piece; the other Selendi in this group is a different shape entirely. Small kilims get moved around a house for years before they find the spot they stay in, and that is not a failing of the kilim.