Navy Anatolian Handwoven Wool Cicim Kilim

Forty-seven centimeters across and a hundred and two down — 1'7" × 3'4" — which makes this the smallest woven piece here and, more usefully, one that can be hung without a rail. It is a handwoven navy wool cicim kilim from Türkiye, brocaded in the Anatolian motif families.

01Color that shifts through the day

One of one. Navy behaves oddly at small scale. On a large rug a dark ground recedes and lets the drawing come forward; on a strip this narrow the ground reads as one solid dark block and the brocaded figures sit on it like marks on a page. That is the argument for putting it on a wall rather than a floor.

02Coming off the loom

It is also small enough to be honest about — this is not going to cover anything, and its use is decorative. Wool throughout, worked by hand in Türkiye. Cicim brocading lays extra yarn over the ground rather than into it, so figures on a navy field come up as raised color catching light along one edge.

03What the yarn is

On a small piece that raised work is proportionally more of the object and proportionally more vulnerable: a corner caught under a door will pull yarn out of a cicim faster than out of a plain kilim.

04At the loom in in Anatolia

Professional washing, and if it goes on a wall, hang it from a full-width sleeve rather than from two hooks. Handwoven in wool in Türkiye, brocaded in the cicim technique. 47 × 102 cm (1'7" × 3'4"), the smallest format in this group. Navy ground with Anatolian figures raised above it. Better on a wall than underfoot, at this size. Raised brocade pulls if caught; keep it clear of door edges. Hang from a full-width sleeve, never from two points. Professional washing. A single piece. Small weavings survive because nobody walks on them, which is why the small ones that come down to us are usually the ones with their color intact.