BOSNIAN PRE-FACTORY KILIM

Bosnian kilims can be broadly categorized into three groups, which appeared successively:

-        Kilims which were made before the establishment of Sarajevo Workshop (1879),

-        Kilims of Sarajevo Workshop and

-        Home-made kilims which appeared under the influence of the Workshop.

Rough floor coverings called gunj, ćebe and biljac were woven on the horizontal looms using simple techniques of flat weaving (in two threads) before Bosnia became part of the Ottoman Empire. Researchers believe that the technique of slit-tapestry weaving was known in our regions even before Ottoman conquests, and that it was used for making aprons and šarenice (striped rugs) (Filipović, 2006). It is possible that these šarenice are what Verena Han found references to in the Archives of Dubrovnik in the 13th century under the name ‘Bosnian karpeta’.

The very term ‘ćilim’ was adopted upon the arrival of Ottomans. It draws origin from Turkish word 'kilim', which ultimately draws origin from Persian word 'gelim' and refers to flat-woven rugs woven by means of slit-tapestry weaving technique (klječanje). It is a technique where a certain number of threads of the warp is singled out with fingers and covered by strands of weft to cover it completely and therefore a kilim is a two-faced rug. Alternation of colors of the weft strands results in the formation of individual motifs, and then the entire pattern. At places where two different colors of wool meet small slits are made, and therefore the professional literature refers to the basic variant of this technique as to 'slit-tapestry weaving'. To avoid too large slits at places where two motifs meet, weaving must always proceed diagonally or slightly stepwise. Thus, the very weaving technique forms geometrical motifs recognizable for the kilim, the simplest being a horizontal, diagonal or zig-zag stripe, a triangle or a lozenge. Combination of these geometrical patterns produces recognizable motifs of kilims, which weavers from different locations named after what they reminded them of. Thus, for example, the recognizable motif of the Bosnian kilim, the so-called turtle, is called bereket in Anatolia (Anatolian kilims, 1995). Therefore, neither professional nor academic discussions of kilims can label it as a zoomorphic motif and interpret its supposedly zoomorphic symbolism. 

Since these basic geometrical patterns, due to their simplicity, have been present in the craft and artistic expressions since oldest times, a trend of presenting various romanticist theories about their symbolism emerged in Western literature in the 1970s. Most of these theories have not been proved while some, such as the one about presentation of the goddess of fertility from Neolithic on kilims and prayer rugs in Anatolia have been confuted (Eiland, 1990, 19). Nevertheless, the insufficiently versed researchers still side with these theories, referring to authors who have lost any credibility in the academic world.

Rounded lines of motifs which we see on the so-called Sharkoy (Pirot and Chiprovtsi) kilims are generated using a more elaborated the eccentric/curved weft tapestry weaving technique, so-called ‘goblen’.

We cannot establish with certainty at what speed the process of transition from šarenice to kilims proceeded after the adoption of Islamic culture in our regions. Use of kilims in Sarajevo houses “of upper and lower classes” was first recorded by French travel writer Poullet in the mid-17th century. As we can see, by the mid-17th century kilims came into use even among the poorest classes of population, since women wove them themselves for needs of their households. However, imported carpets and kilims were present in Bosnia ever since the arrival of Ottomans in our regions. For example, the vakufnama (deed of endowment) of Ćejvan-ćehaja from Mostar of 1558 lists various flat and knotted-pile rugs endowed for the opening of his mosque. (Pile rugs, made by the knotting technique, were before known under the name halija, from Turkish word 'halı' – carpet, which ultimately draws origin from Persian word 'qali' – carpet. In our regions, the term ‘ćilim’ later began to be used both for tapestry and for pile rugs.)

Having in mind that kilims were intensively used, old items were thrown away when they became worn out and replaced by new ones. The oldest preserved Bosnian kilims date back to the early 19th century. It is possible that some of them date back even to the late 18th century although, as we have seen, their weaving began far earlier. By the arrival of Austro-Hungary, several kilim-weaving centers had been formed in Bosnia and Herzegovina; literature lists the following: Bosanski Petrovac, Gacko, Livno, Stolac, Rogatica, Čajniče and Zenica. Besides kilim-weaving, trade centers were also formed, such as those in Banja Luka, Sarajevo and Zenica, where local and imported kilims and carpets from Pirot, Chiprovtsi, Skopje, Istanbul, Solun, as well as from distant cities of Buhara and Isfahan, were traded.

Upon the arrival of Ottomans, the weaving technique and kilim design were gradually perfected and made more sophisticated. The first and the oldest variant of Bosnian kilim, as well as those from neighboring regions, is the kilim without border – ćenar (from Persian word 'kenar' – end), and its pattern was formed after the model of šarenice. The simplest pattern of the early Bosnian kilim consists of multicolored stripes named zatke (Figure 1). Later on, a pattern was inserted between the stripes, often a lozenge which is, on the kilim, called a kolo or a lokum, and such a pattern has been named u zatke s izmetima (with inserts between stripes) (Figure 2). The following pattern is one where the whole surface is covered by mutually embedded lozenges, popularly called na kola, na sofre, na lokume or lokumli (Figure 3). The wool of these earliest kilims was dyed with natural dyestuff such as bark of young walnut tree, leaves of flowering or European ash tree, bark of ash tree, onion husk, common laburnum or dyeweed (genista tinctoria L) etc. (Vladić-Krstić, 1978). 

The next step in making the pattern more elaborate is adding the border to the first simple samples. All early pre-workshop Bosnian kilims were woven on a horizontal loom, and therefore consisted of several parts, pola or struka, as they were popularly called. Patterns of both early and later Bosnian kilims reflect the influence of Anatolian and the so-called Sharkoy kilims, which were named after the Ottoman name for Pirot – Şarköy.

References:

1.     Balpınar Acar, Belkis, Kilim – cicim – zili – sumak, Eren Yayınları, İstanbul, 1983.

2.     Eiland, Murray, Jr., “The Goddess from Anatoliaˮ, Oriental Rug Review, X, 6, Meredith, NH, 1990, pp. 19-26.

3.     Filipović, Marica, Bosanskohercegovački ćilimi iz zbirke Zemaljskog muzeja BiH, Zemaljski muzej BiH, Sarajevo, 2006.

4.     Papić, Radivoje, “Osnivanje i razvoj tkaonice ćilima u Sarajevu (1879-1979)ˮ, 100 godina Tkaonice ćilima u Sarajevu, Tkaonica ćilima Sarajevo – Ilidža, Sarajevo, 1979, pp. 19-22.

5.     Vladić-Krstić, Bratislava, “Ćilimarstvo u Bosni i Hercegovini, prilog proučavanju starih tkanja u Bosni i Hercegovini”, Glasnik Zemaljskog muzeja u Sarajevu: etnologija, New series, XXXII, Sarajevo, 1977, pp. 225-296.