Multicolor Anatolian Handwoven Wool Van Kilim, Natural Dyes

A handwoven kilim in natural-dyed wool, 158 × 208 cm (5'2" × 6'10"). It was woven in Türkiye and carries the pattern language known by the name of Van. Around Van, kilims are often named less for a place than for the tribe that wove them; one of the examples given by the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam is the Beritan kilim.

01Reading the motif

The Van in the title points to a pattern family in the same way. The coral-red ground is covered end to end by a lattice of diamonds. Hooks run along the edge of each diamond, with a small star at its center; in the literature on Anatolian weaving, the hook is associated with warding off the evil eye. At the center, cream diamonds nest into one large lozenge, and toward the sides gray-blue and red diamonds take over. Red and black branched motifs line the cream border.

02Which tone on the ground

With natural dyes the same color comes out a little differently in every dye lot, and in the photographs the red lightens and deepens from one area to the next. About 3.3 square meters (roughly 35 square feet); flatwoven, with no pile, and cream fringe at both short ends. Its nearly square proportions suit the space between two armchairs and a coffee table, where it opens a field of red in the middle of the seating. Coral red set against sage-green or olive upholstery separates cleanly, and both colors read more vividly.

03The Linen on the surface

A light oak floor and a linen curtain carry the cream border into the room. At a corner of one short end the diamond lattice breaks off, and a black stepped triangle cuts into the field.