Kashmiri carpets are world
renowned for two things-
they are hand made and they
are always knotted, never
tufted. It is extremely
instructive to watch a
carpet being made- your
dealer can probably arrange
it for you. Stretched
tightly on a frame is the
warp of Carpet. The weft
threads are passed through,
the ‘talim’ or design and
color specifications are
then worked out on this: a
strand of yarn is looped
through the warp & weft,
knotted and then cut. The
yarn used normally is silk,
wool or silk and wool.
Woolen carpets always have a
cotton base (Warp & Weft).
Silk usually have cotton base. Sometimes however, the
base is also silk in which
case you will see that the
fringe is silk; the cost
increases proportionately.
Occasionally, carpets are
made on a cotton base,
mainly of woolen pile with
silk yarn used as highlights
on certain motifs.
A carpet with a pure silk
pile may be referred to as
an 80% silk carpet. Carpet
weaving in Kashmir was not
originally indigenous but is
thought to have come in by
way of Persia. Atypical
Kashmiri design is the tree
of life. Persian design not
withstanding, any carpet
woven in Kashmir is referred
to as Kashmiri. The
color-way of Carpet, and its
details differentiate it
from any other carpet. And
while on the subject of
colors, it should be kept in
mind that although the
colors of Kashmiri carpets
are more subtle and muted
than elsewhere in the
country, only chemical dyes
Hand silk carpets of Kashmir
are the specialties. They
are those carpets, which are
created on a silk pile and
the silk carpets are also
created on a cotton or
woolen pile. Generally silk
carpets are made up of 80%
of silk yarn and 20% of
cotton yarn, having more
than 400 knots per square
inch. 100% pure silk carpets
have very high knots per
inch. The knots per square
inch of such carpet can vary
between 400-1600 knots per
square inch. The knotting of
the carpet is the most
important aspect,
determining its durability
and value, in addition to
its design. Basically, the
more knots per square inch,
the greater its value and
durability. The carpet
craftsmen in Kashmir follow
the traditional Persian or
Islamic designs of Kirman,
Kashan, and Esfahan, Herat
and so on to weave their
innovative carpets. Though
there is a strong Persian
influence in Kashmiri
carpets, however one can
also see local variations.
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