Knot Counts Oriental Rugs - Turkish Rugs and Kilims

Knot Counts

Knot counts are one gauge of quality in some large workshop carpets, but with antique rugs there is little correlation between a rug's coarseness and its value as textile art. Other qualities are more important: the artistry, craftsmanship, rarity, wool quality, and the weaving's importance as an historic or ethnographic object.

If you wish to identify the knots in your rug, you must first determine which end of the rug was at the top when it was woven. The fringe yarns on the ends are the warp. Running lengthwise through the rug, these were the yarns stretched on the loom. Stroke the pile; knots were tied with the pile inclining downward, toward the bottom of the loom. As the weaver wrapped each knot, she tightened it by pulling it downward or toward her, against the already woven fabric.

Knot

A novice should start by examining the most coarsely woven rug available, perhaps an Anatolian, south Caucasian, or Kurdish piece. First, on the front of the rug, fold a section along the wefts, parallel with a row of knotting. Since rugs with the lowest knot counts are usually symmetrically knotted, that is probably what you will see. Each knot spans two warps and has a wide "collar" horizontally across its top. Two pile tufts emerge from under this collar, usually merging to look like one. If you cannot see individual knots clearly, try an intricate section of the design with narrow, but lightly colored pattern parts. As you handle a flexible old symmetrically knotted rug, you will begin to see the surface as lots of small square, chunky pile sections. This characteristic is accentuated if the pile is worn.

Once familiar with symmetrical knots, you will easily recognize those that are not, almost by default. Instead of an unbroken series of collars, on rugs with asymmetrical knots there are alternating tufts of pile and much smaller collars, each the width of a single warp. Asymmetrically knotted constructions do not separate readily into small square sections unless they are quite coarse, like some Chinese Ninghsia pieces.

Asymmetrical knots can be tied so that they either "open to the left" or "open to the right." With some rugs you need only rub your hand lightly over the surface to determine their direction. If the pile fibers slant obviously to one side, the knots open that way. Otherwise, look for a place with a single knot in a light color; the knot opens on the side of the collar where the tuft emerges. It may help to fold the rug vertically and roll it back and forth slightly to isolate a column of knots.

he vast majority of workshop carpets with severely depressed warps have asymmetrical knots. Persian Bijar carpets are one exception; they are symmetrically knotted. By folding a rug along a narrow vertical outline it is usually possible to see whether a knot's two yarn ends emerge singly or together from under its collar.