Kilim

Since years I am in love with Kilim rugs, pillows and carpets. Their intriguing patterns with symbolic figures and their beautiful warm colour palettes always attract my eye. I have used Kilim pillows many times as a colour guide and they always lead me to beautiful new colour scenes. They mix well with teak and old wood as well with my beloved bright colours. Most of them I have had for years and they seem to become even more beautiful :))The motifs often are symbols like for example; Camel = Wealth and Fortune, Dog = Protector of the house, Dove = Peace, Fish = Happiness, Horse = Freedom, Peacock = Divinity, Rose = Love, “S” motif = divinity and wisdom, “Z” motif = Light, Zigzag motif = Water and eternity (source Caroun.com )
There is something about the colours and the patterns that attracts me. It seems to bring back a feeling from a distant past and I can't put my finger on it. I read this story about the language of Kilims and I wanted to share it with you; "Long ago in a Turkish village, a tribal chief happened to see a Kilim which moved him strangely. Looking at it, he sensed the terrible anguish of the person who’d made it. He told his men to find the father of the young girl who’d woven the Kilim (as her sentiments echoed in the Kilim’s motifs). When the father was brought to him, he asked him why he wanted his daughter to marry a man of his choice, when she’d set her heart on another. The father was stunned. How did the chief know all this, he asked? The chief pointed to the Kilim and said, “the Kilim your daughter wove spoke to me about her anguish!” He gave the father a horse and a camel, told him to allow his daughter to marry the man she loved and said, “tell her she wove it well!" (source Copperwiki) Well I must admit that I can't sense the feelings and thoughts of the craftsmen who made my beautiful Kilim pillows and rugs. But I know they were made with a loving eye for detail and colour. Although I look different at them ever since that story hihi :)))