GHIORDES CARPET

floor covering handwoven in the town of Ghiordes (Grdes), northeast of Izmir in western Anatolia (now in Turkey). The prayer rugs of Ghiordes, together with those of Kula and Ladik, have long been especially prized in the Near East, as well as in Europe and the United States. Some of them date from the last decades of the 18th century, borrowing elements from much earlier Ottoman court designs, with fields of red or ivory. Most, however, were produced during the 19th century, during which time other coloursblue, green, and brownwere used, and the field began to exhibit small motifs. Characteristics of the Ghiordes carpet include a finely stepped acute arch with prominent shoulders, and two cross panels, one above and the other below the niche, or mihrab. In the late 19th century, rugs of the Kiz-Ghiordes type, a dealers' term suggesting a girl's trousseau, became popular. After the 18th century, cotton was normally used for the weft of Ghiordes carpets, while wool was preferred in the warp. The pile is generally of wool or, rarely, of silk. After the turn of the 20th century, the quality of Ghiordes carpets declined. Ghiordes has given its name to the form of knot whose cut ends produce the pile in Turkish, Caucasian, and many Persian rugs.