Zeitschrift für die Welt der Türken (Aug 2011)
EXAMINATION OF TWO ANATOLIAN-SELDJUKI ERA CARPETS WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF VISUAL DESIGN ELEMENTS
Abstract
During the human adventure of civilization, the steps taken in the name of lifestyles, tools used, beliefs, styles of working, mental and artistic actions, political and social organizations were never easy. The logical answers to questions that were raised with the change and the increase in variety of human needs caused the development of scientific methods. Those methods developed to ease the life are also responsible for the birth of some principles. Thus the thinking necessary for human needs gave start to the process of designing. With the basic principles necessary for the designing process thought now gets out of the mind and begins to become a functional means. The design, which comes into being by first imagining and then putting this imagination on paper to be shaped and realized, has some principles. When held in the context of principles and elements, these provide comprehensible designs in visiual perception for both the designer and the observer.In this way the various Turkish groups immigrating to Anatolia from the XI. Century, have shaped a unique artistic language by synthesizing the customs and traditions of local civilizations with their own. Considering that the founding of the visual design principles were determined only by 1900's, the XIII. Century weavers have produced rightly admired Anatolian Seldjuki era carpets as a result of their own aesthetical perception and synthesis. Only eighteen of those Anatolian Seldjuki carpets with different designs survived today. However, from those eighteen survived (as whole or as bits and pieces) two pieces of carpets which currently are in The Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum (Inventory #683 and 692, 693) appear similar, but upon scrutiny, it is now known that they are independent to each other.Thorough examinations of these two Anatolian Seldjuki carpet pieces have shown that original bordure measurements were different. Also the color differentiations of outer nacres made us think that these pieces were wowen separately. The similarities in colors, units, course and gaps made them understood as two parts of one carpets. However, close examination shows that on the forms placed on the carpet backdrop of #692-693, the last one and a half lines have both a change of colors and the creation of a different effect by putting an additional color on the units. Thus it is now thought that these two pieces of Anatolian Seldjuki carpets are from two independent carpets bearing similar aspects.
