Buying rugs in Turkey - Rah Rah "Kilims"
 Perhaps
you have been in Turkey as a tourist and visited rug shops to find a
collectable rug to bring home as a souvenir. Most rug shops have a large
inventory of both new Turkish pile rugs and flatweaves but a real
collectable rug seems hard to find for the tourist.
Some will fall for a very nice rug called Rah Rah "Kilim"
(actually a soumak).
I have asked Ludwina Akbulut, carpet dealer from Selcuk, about Rah Rah
"Kilims".
"Rah Rah soumaks are Afshar pieces from the Kerman area in Iran",
she says. "The name 'Rah Rah' is the name for the design, and could
be translated 'road road' ( this name because of the design in horizontal
stripes). It is a flatweave in plain soumak, wool on wool, and they can be found in Turkish carpet shops in different sizes. Since last year
some are 'Tea washed' and some times sold as 'old' pieces. There are even other
productions imitating this design made by Shasevan. These Shasevans are
not as fine , in a different colour combination and on a cotton warp. The
Afshars have also other designs in the same technique and the carpet
dealers call them
'Afshar' or 'wool soumak'."
Ruth Lockwood, carpet dealer from Goreme, complement the information
about Rah Rah soumaks:
"Dear Ivan - I have spoken to a few Kurdish friends of mine as
well as to a couple of Kurdish carpet dealers from Eastern Turkey and
managed to find a general consensus of information .
Rah Rah soumaks are produced in both the south eastern Iranian province
of Kerman and Sirjan as well as in areas that are referred to as
'Kurdistan'. These areas cover those typically defined as 'Kurdish ' in
Iran, as well as northern Iraq and Hakkari/Van province in the East of
Turkey. These weavers are all predominantly Kurdish and use both a 'kerman'
- the word we use for hand spun wool of high quality, as well as imported
New Zealand wools for the production of these very fine soumak weavings .
The colours used are all chemical dyes and it is extremely common to
'tea wash' the pieces on completion, giving them an aged look that varies
from a soft brownish 'film' to a very dark almost black appearance. I
personally prefer those that have been lightly tea washed as they are more
aesthetically pleasing to the eye, but the only problem is that the 'tea
wash 'does wash out progressively when you clean the rug. Without the 'tea
wash effect these soumaks can be rather garish (especially with some of
the bright blue, yellow and rather bright greens dye bases that can be
used) These dyes combined with the use of whites and common red base
colour, and the repeated lines of the actual design base can really play
havoc on your eyes. I always tell customers about the tea wash, but I know
a lot of dealers who don't, so I think it is an issue well worth
mentioning.
Rah Rah soumaks have been available commercially on the market here in
Turkey since approximately 1997-1998. If anything they are a finer more
balanced weaving now than when they first appeared on the market and I
have bought and sold some extremely fine and beautiful examples. They are
almost the best of the 'new ' flatweaves on to-days market. The same
design is also reproduced in 'Kaba' (thick style) soumak Afshar, which are
deliberately woven as a thick and chunky reproduction of earlier nomadic Afshar
weavings, ( versus a piece that is meant to be fine but hasn't achieved
the level of skill required). Less fine examples of the 'fine 'Afshars are
starting to appear within the last year and whilst no one can clarify this
point I suspect that they are from Kurdish tribes in the Hakkari/ Van
province of Eatern Turkey that are copying the formula of the much finer
Afshars from Iran. These pieces are using a coarse grey wool rather than
the very fine white wools of the high quality pieces.
Fine Rah Rah sumaks generally are produced in 4 sizes; Ceyrek 1.06 x
.70m, Seccade 1.40 x 1.10m, Karyola 2.35 x 1.32m, Kelle 2.oo x 300m. These
sizes are approximate and generally the first 3 sizes are available - only
occasionally can you find the larger Kelle size.
Because there is very little variance in quality of the fine pieces,
they are actually one of our lowest profit margin pieces. Customers can
easily compare the pieces , the entry prices are high, and the designs
relatively similar therefore there is often a 'price war' between dealers
on these commonly found Rah Rahs - more so than on almost anything else we
have in stock . All in all it makes very good buying for the customers",
says Ruth Lockwood.
 Sirjan
in the Kerman province
Lars Nygaard, Norwegian carpet dealer, who has travelled in the Kerman
province around Sirjan tells that
the local Afsharis call these soumak rugs for "Suzanis". The
correct local denomination is "Shirekipitsch", he says.
Actually Suzani are weft-substitution and not soumak and the word
Suzani means embroidery. If you are confused now it is understandable.
Rah Rah kilim, Rah Rah soumak, Shasevan, Afshar flatweave, Susani or
Shirekipitsch. A beloved child has many names.
These Afshar weavings are nice and perhaps you will find them "collectable".
But naturally you should consider whether the chemical treatment - tea
wash - is acceptable for you. Ivan Soenderholm 22 March
2004 Links: Oriental Rug Review: Flatweaves
of Kerman Province by P.R.J. Ford
Ludwina Akbulut's web site: Dekorativ
Carpets & Kilims Ruth Lockwood's web site: Tribal
Collections
Lars Nygaards's web site: Lars
N. Nygaard Oriental
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