Carpet MOMO Rugs Bidjar Fine 47

Bidjar is a town of about 50,000 people in the north-western province of Kurdistan. It is situated in a fertile valley surrounded by arid mountains, and there are no major monuments. The town serves mainly as a market centre for the surrounding villages. Its recent history has been dramatic, as the town was occupied first by the Russians and then by the Turks, during the First World War, leading to a famine that significantly reduced the population. These events are reflected in the town's carpet production. Before the First World War, the carpets were still coarsely knotted, with wool warp and weft. Later they became finer and had cotton bases. The Bidjar patterns are often Herati, but sometimes a Mahi pattern occurs. The colours are usually bright red with a light trim. The Bidjar carpets are so tightly knotted that you risk breaking the knots if you fold them together with the pile facing inwards. When folding Bidjar carpets, it is therefore always the pile facing outwards. You can clearly feel that there is a lot more wool used in a Bidjar rug than in most other rugs. They feel a lot heavier and they are not as easy to move as lying on the floor.