Carpet; It is a knitted or woven mat, mostly made of wool, sometimes silk, with or without embroidery, with or without embroidery, to be laid on the floor or on furniture, stretched to the wall. The first known carpet was found during excavations in Pazırık bunkers in Altay Region in Siberia. This carpet made of Turkish knot, BC 5.-3. It belongs to the centuries. This find proves that carpet art is a handicraft branch unique to the Turks. Information on carpets before the 13th century can be found in written sources. It is known that the carpet was made in an area extending from Central Asia to Iran in the 11th century during the Great Seljuk Empire. After the Seljuks entered Anatolia, carpet making increased. The oldest carpets of this period were found in Konya Alaattin Mosque. Another small group was found in the Beyşehir Eşrefoğlu Mosque. Geometric and stylized plant motifs are used in Seljuk rugs. After the beginning of the 14th century, stylized animal motifs began to appear more frequently in Anatolian carpets. The oldest examples of carpets in this group used until the end of the 15th century are the Ming Carpet in the Berlin Museum and the Marby Carpet in the Swedish village of Marby. In the 14th and 15th centuries, it was used in star and similar geometric motifs alongside animal motifs. These carpets, called Holbein Rugs, take their name from the paintings of Hans Holbein, one of the painters of that period.
Rugs in this group are divided into four groups:
a) The ground, consisting of geometric decoration, is divided into squares and an octagon is placed in each square,
b) Geometric decoration has been replaced by plant motifs. Floor division is no different from the first. These carpets are also called Lotto Rugs, as they are often seen in Lorenzo Lotto’s paintings,
c) The decoration of the carpets in this group resembles the one in the first two groups. However, the ground was divided into large squares and large octagons were placed inside them.
d) In this group, there is a large square in the middle and small squares are lined up around it.
Although Holbein carpets are not seen after the 16th century, Lotto carpets prepared the group called Uşak Carpets. Third and fourth types of Holbein carpets became the pioneers of Bergama Carpets. Uşak and its surroundings became an important center of Ottoman carpet art starting from the 16th century. The motifs of the two carpets of Uşak Rugs are quite similar. Medallion Uşak Rugs are larger, Star Star Rugs are smaller. Another group of Uşak Rugs is Bird Carpets. There are bird-like shapes in the motifs in this group. Stylized floral motifs are embroidered with the geometric patterns of the Seljuks, called Bergama Carpets. In the 16th century Ottoman rugs called Palace Carpets, instead of the Gördes knot seen in Anatolian carpets, the Persian knot was used, and silk was used as the material. The patterns embroidered on these carpets consisted of flowers prepared by the palace masters. Making these carpets continued until the 18th century. With the emergence of factory carpet weaving at the end of the 19th century, handloom carpets gained more importance. Today, carpets woven on hand looms as an export good protect their importance and value. Although carpets are woven on hand looms in almost every region of Anatolia, the carpets of some regions are more famous. Among these, Bergama, Kayseri, Sivas, Bünyan, Milas, Gördes, Uşak, Kütahya, Ladik, Here-ke, Demirci, Karaman, Kula are the most famous ones.
Outside Turkey Carpet: outside of Turkey, the most important places in the production of carpets made in looms, particularly are Caucasian and North African countries, including Iran. As far as written sources are learned, carpets were woven in Khuzestan, Bukhara and Persia in the 10th century. The first examples of Persian carpets are found in miniatures made in the 14th century. Persian carpet art experienced its heyday in the 17th century. Medallion and Herat carpets are the most preferred Persian carpets. The most famous ones are those made in the regions of Shiraz, Ferhan, Khorasan, Sine, Tabriz. Geometric motifs are dominant in Caucasian carpets. Although Iranian influence is seen, animal and dragon motifs are emphasized. Dagestan, Mahcevan, Tbilisi, Batumi, Ganja and Shirvan are the main production centers. It is known to weave carpets in various parts of the world. However, these carpets are not as famous and valuable as Turkish rugs. For example, carpet flooring price carpets produced in centers such as Samarkand, Kashgar and Bukhara in Central Asia and in Afghanistan and India have gained as much importance as Turkish carpets. It is known that carpets are also woven in Europe. However, these carpets are mostly tapestries.