Red Anatolian Kırşehir Village-Woven Wool Rug Pillow

In rug literature, Kırşehir is named among the weaving centers of central Anatolia; according to N. Bozkurt's entry in the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, the Lâdik type spread to Karaman, Karapınar, Aksaray and Kırşehir in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

01Which tone on the ground

The name Kırşehir in the title of this small rug points to the pattern family. At the center of the red field is a cream, angular medallion edged in navy. Inside are burgundy and pink roses, green leaves, and a green and navy crown at the top.

02How many centimeters, which room

The red field narrows to a point at both ends and opens onto black corners holding pink flowers, mustard branches, curling spirals and olive-green roundels. Two sizes: 56 × 119 cm (1'10" × 3'11") and 53 × 117 cm (1'9" × 3'10"), one about 0.7 and the other 0.6 square meters (roughly 7 square feet each).

03Knot by knot, by hand

Woven by hand in Türkiye in wool and cotton, with a pile surface. Hung on the wall above a console, the rug reads like a picture. When hanging it, carry the weight along the whole top edge rather than from the corners, or the edge loses its shape over time.

04Color that shifts through the day

A cream medallion blends into a cream wall, while the red field stands apart from it. A dark green wall makes the red look more vivid, because the two colors are complements. The main border runs on a gray-green ground with small flowers in many colors.

05Reading the motif

That gray-green is the one broad cool area beside the red. In the bottom border, the rosettes are linked by a chain of diamonds.