page_title: Anatolian rug
section_title: Dyes and dyeing
hierarchical_section_title: Anatolian rug / Carpet weaving: Materials, technique, processes / Dyes and dyeing
caption_attribution_description: Carpet factory in Turkey
context_page_description: Anatolian rug is a term of convenience, commonly used today to denote rugs and carpets woven in Anatolia and its adjacent regions. Geographically, its area of production can be compared to the territories which were historically dominated by the Ottoman Empire. It denotes a knotted, pile-woven floor or wall covering which is produced for home use, local sale, and export. Together with the flat-woven kilim, Anatolian rugs represent an essential part of the regional culture, which is officially understood as the Culture of Turkey today, and derives from the ethnic, religious and cultural pluralism of one of the most ancient centres of human civilisation.
  Rug weaving represents a traditional craft dating back to prehistoric times. Rugs were woven much earlier than even the oldest surviving rugs like the Pazyryk rug would suggest. During its long history, the art and craft of the woven carpet has absorbed and integrated different cultural traditions.
context_section_description: Traditional dyes used for Anatolian carpets are obtained from plants, insects and minerals. In 1856, the English chemist William Henry Perkin invented the first aniline dye, mauveine. A variety of other synthetic dyes were invented thereafter. Cheap, readily prepared and easy to use as they were compared to natural dyes, their use is documented in Ushak carpets already by the mid 1860s. The tradition of natural dyeing was recently revived, based on chemical analyses of natural dyes from antique wool samples, and experimental re-creation of dyeing recipes and processes, in the early 1980s.
  According to these analyses, natural dyes used in Anatolian rugs include:
  Red from Madder (Rubia tinctorum) roots,
  Yellow from plants, including onion (Allium cepa), several chamomile species (Anthemis, Matricaria chamomilla), and Euphorbia,
  Black: Oak apples, Oak acorns, Tanner's sumach,
  Green by double dyeing with Indigo and yellow dye,
  Orange by double dyeing with madder red and yellow dye,
  Blue: Indigo gained from Indigofera tinctoria.
  The dyeing process involves the preparation of the yarn in order to make it susceptible for the proper dyes by immersion in a mordant, immersing the yarn in the dyeing solution, and leaving it to dry exposed to air and sunlight. Some colours, especially dark brown, require iron mordants, which can damage or fade the fabric. This often results in faster pile wear in areas dyed in dark brown colours, and may create a relief effect in antique Turkish carpets.
  With modern synthetic dyes, nearly every colour and shade can be obtained so that it is nearly impossible to identify, in a finished carpet, whether natural or artificial dyes were used. Modern carpets can be woven with carefully selected synthetic colours, and provide artistic and utilitarian value.
  The Anatolian rug is distinct from carpets of other provenience in that it makes more pronounced use of primary colours. Western Anatolian carpets prefer red and blue colours, whereas Central Anatolian use more red and yellow, with sharp contrasts set in white.
caption: Naturally dyed wool in a Turkish carpet manufacture
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