Bijar Rugs/Carpets the
O'Connell Guide
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| Bijar Rugs are from the Gerus Area |
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Attribution:
Design is almost useless in attribution. Repeating Herati
are common but so are florals, arabesque, and medallion
format. The barberpoled twining in the Kilim is often a
clue but too often the kilim is gone. The key to
attribution is handle and structure. The Bijar carpet
weave causes the rug to have a very heavy stiff handle.
The Bijar carpet weave is unique in Oriental Rugs and
quite distinctive. Sizes:
Pushti, zarcherek, zaronim, dozar, kelleyis (not as
common), and carpets of virtually any size. Wagireh:
One unusual variation of Bijar that is
popular at auction is a Wagireh or sampler. These are
often about 4 by 5 feet and have a sampling of various
designs common to Bijars.
Bijar Rugs: Bidjar
Wagireh, lot 87
Bijar Rugs: Bijar Carpets:
Bijar Rugs:
Kurd Bidjar:
Saddle Covers:
Triclinium:
Bags:
Newer Bijars:
Bijar Rugs: Qoltuq Bidjar
Rug
Bijar Rugs: Qoltuq
Bijar Rug
Bijar Rugs: Qoltuq
Bijar Rug
Bijar Rugs: Qoltug
Bijar Oriental Rug
Bijar Rugs: Sannah
or Gerus Bijar Runner
Bijar Rugs: Indo-Bijar
Mat
Garrus or Kurdish Bijars:
Borders:
The Late George Washington
O'Bannon cites the secondary oak leaf and rosette
border as "Bijar Property".3 The main Herati
border is also very common with Bijars. However a Bijar
may have any of a large number of borders of which these
are just a sample.
This is also a detail of a typical Bijar. Please note
how different this is from the one above.
Here we see another variation on the leaf and blossom
guard border O'Bannon mentioned.
Structure:
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| Bijars Weave |
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- Warps: Old rugs wool Z3s, newer - cotton.
- Weft: Wool prior to W.W.II cotton after, 1st weft
is very heavy, thick and straight 2nd weft is
thin and sinuous. Later rugs the two wefts are
the same size.
- Pile: Wool, symmetrical knot
- Density: 50 to 100 knots per square inch is
common with the Afshar Bijar aprox. 175 kpsi
(2800 per sq.Decimeter)
- Sides: Single color overcast wool often brown.
- Ends: Kurd Bijars often have a row of white and
dark twinning in the kilim.
- Handle: Bijars have a very heavy handle and are
the most rigid Oriental rug. The handle is so
tight that if folded there is a chance that they
will break(always roll them if necessary).
Structure Discussion:
One of the first revelations to me when I
started studying rugs was the almost complete lack of
absolutes. The minute you say a Bidjar is, or a Bidjar
has, you begin to hear refinements and exceptions as well
as differences in opinion. There is a wealth of knowledge
that helps us to navigate that course. I will include as
much of this discussion as I can.
Hratch Kozibioukian (A West Coast Carpet Restorer)
Wrote:
I will try to add some technical analysis: What really
gives the "Bijar" Rugs their nickname
"Iron rugs" is, (aside from the fully depressed
foundation (which is called "Dorokhsh")and the
very well packed knots) is... the spin and ply technique
of the yarn--tight spun and very well plied used for:
1-the warp, 2-the first shoot cable cable weft that
depresses the warp and 3-the spin of the yarn used for
pile, The Kurds that weave these rugs believe that "
a well made rug begins with very well spun yarn"
Also, The given name "Herati" is Persian. Kurds
call that design "Mahi" which means fish.
A well known Boston Collector wrote:
Barry, in your description of Bijars you say that they
are two-wefted. However, when John Collins gave a talk on
Bijars to our society he stated that they were
three-wefted, and this is confirmed in Eiland's
book. Here is a portion of Jim Adelson's write-up
of that talk (NERS Newsletter, 10/15/97) which qualifies
some of assertions usually made about these rugs:
"Bijars are renowned for specific structural
characteristics, but the stereotype does not accurately
reflect the weavings’ diversity. Conventional wisdom
has it that older Bijars have wool foundations and later
ones have cotton foundations, but the transition was very
slow. People associate stiff, heavy handle with Bijars,
but again there is more diversity, with some Bijars
having a loose, floppy handle. The stiffest Bijars have a
lot of cotton and not much wool, but this is not
necessarily an advantage. The one consistent structural
element is three wefts, with one particularly large --
even pencil-thick!"
Daniel From Belgium Wrote:
My basis reference book for this is the outstanding book
of William Eagleton "An introduction to Kurdish Rugs
and other weavings" and the well-known Cecil
Edward's book "The Persian Carpet"
It must be acknowledged that there is no homogeneous
depressed warp weaving Bidjars type (sometimes labeled
Sarakhs or Lulas). First of all the Gerus (greater Bidjar
region) is a non tribal region with a mixture of ethnic
groups which is reflected in the variety of designs and
weaves, and twice dimensions and designs were subject to
the outside Persian design influence and the Western rug
trade in the late 19th who created a market for large
weavings.
Ethnic groups:
Kurds
Turkish Afshars living in the village North of the town
Turkish Shahsavan
Structure:
The outstanding characteristic of Bidjars is that they
have a hard and dense fabric and are very rigid in
handle.
1/ they use the symmetric knot and the pile is short
(in place of a normally high or medium pile in Kurdish
rugs). Wool often coming from the Western Mountains is of
high quality.
2/ to obtain a tough fabric they use a very thick and
straight weft in the construction in addition to one or
two thin sinuous one. This thick and very straight weft
depresses alternate warps forming longitudinal ridges at
the back. The knots appear as the large bead on the ridge
and a small one almost concealed between the ridges. When
the warp is completely depressed only one bead for each
knot is found. The best manner to see it is to search a
place in the rug where the color changes. If there is
only one knot for each color it means that the second
part of the knot is inside the rug. The weft is usually
tan; beige but is sometimes colored. More recent rugs
have a more flexible fabric. When rolled it's better to
roll them with the pile upside
3/ to obtain a great density of knots the woolen wefts
must be vigorously pounded in. They used therefore a
special steel comb-like instrument and they bring it down
hard upon the weft at close intervals to get a high
number of rows of knots per inch.
Cecil Edwards suggested that the depressed warp
technique of the Bijars be borrowed from the Azerbaijani
Turks.
4/ the wool is tightly spun counterclockwise (Z) and
almost two strands (rarely three) are twisted together
clockwise (S) to produce the Z2S yarn used in warp, weft
and pile. In more recent rugs cotton foundations can be
found.
5/ Selvedges: Are usually overcast and as other
Southern Kurdish rugs they don't have coloring bands.
6/ Ends: Bidjar rugs have a small kilim with
two colors twinning to fringe with knots every ½".
This feature is also found in other area as the Western
Kurdish Mountains
7/ Village Bijars rugs are often crooked because they
are often made on primitive looms where the beams are
bent ore uneven.
I had a chance to examine an antique Bijar that was
awaiting repairs today (3/28/98). Since it was badly worn
I was able to get a close look at how it was made. In
this case we had two wefts. First weft was 2 singles very
heavy Z4S wool. These were straight and rigid. The second
weft was one or two much thinner Z2S wool. I found it
interesting that in this rug the straight wefts were
thicker and straighter than the warps. This rug is but
one sample and I invite anyone who has the opportunity to
examine a Bidjar as I have done and let us know
the result. How many wefts and what are they like
structurally. Since not everyone knows let me mention
that two singles running together are only one weft even
though they are separate. JBOC
1. Ford, P. R. J. Oriental Carpet Design.
London: Thames and Hudson, 1981, paperback 1993. page 88.
2. Message posted on RugNotes Discussion Board March 26,
1998 at 16:01:50 (
http://earth.oconnell.net/RugNotes/wwwboard/messages/350.html
) from Hratch Kozibioukian
3.Message posted on RugNotes Discussion Board. Posted by Daniel DSD on March
29, 1998 at 13:03:50:
http://earth.oconnell.net/RugNotes/wwwboard/messages/360.html
4. O'Bannon, George W. Oriental Rugs. Philadelphia:
Running Press, 1995. page 23.
This guide is still in development and I
hope to cover all types of rugs in much greater depth.
Any thoughts, suggestions, or corrections would be
appreciated.
Links:
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| Bijars Rug |
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| Bijars Rug |
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Thanks and best wishes,
J. Barry O'Connell Jr.
Copyright Barry O'Connell 2004 - 2007.
Last revised: August 07, 2008.
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