Red Color Persian Flat Weave Sumak Rug 4'11'' X 6'

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Soumak refers to a style of weaving as much as a place of origin, though the name does derive from … Read more Soumak refers to a style of weaving as much as a place of origin, though the name does derive from the village of Shemaka, located in the rug-making center of the Caucasus. Indeed, the Soumak weaving technique is used heavily by tribal weavers of Caucasian rugs, but historically it is also found in tribal regions of Anatolia, Afghanistan, and southern and northwestern Persia.

Employing an historic technique older even than traditional piled carpet weaving, Soumak weavers create flat-weave rugs that fall somewhere between traditional Kilims and knotted pile carpets. They work by wrapping each weft over four warps, then pulling the wefts back through first two warps, on and on in a repeated pattern until pieces as large as full-sized carpets are complete. It's a labor-intensive process, usually performed by an individual weaver, but the resultant Soumaks are stronger than their most closely related tribal form, the Kilim. They are somewhat less durable than piled Oriental carpets, but Soumak rugs are exceptionally finely woven, made in the utilitarian tribal tradition for daily use.

Interestingly, unlike the Kilim, Soumaks are rarely reversible. Their undersides expose weft strands, sometimes inches long, and here we see evidence of their historic origin. The purpose of the unclipped weft strands is likely to provide additional warmth, for use during cold nights and long migrations to winter pastures. Soumaks, after all, are a truly native form--they are beautiful representations of tribal utilitarian art, central to the lives of semi-nomadic tribes.
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