Antique Yağcıbedir rug from Turkey. 181x122 cms

Antique prayer rug woven by Yağcıbedir nomads. This rug is very finely woven with a high density of knots and stands out for the use of large amounts of white wool in the central field. A large tree is the central motif of the field that extends from the base to the mihrab or prayer niche. It has seven borders, something relatively common in Yağcıbedir rugs.

We sourced this rug in Afghanistan, so it is truly a nomadic carpet (from Turkey to Afghanistan to Spain and now to your home…)

Material: 100% hand-spun sheep wool

Size: 181×122 cms

Origin: Tikha Turkman rug from Afghanistan

Date of weaving: 1940s

The Yağcıbedir rugs are named after the Yörük (Turkoman) Yayci-Bedirlu tribe which settled in south eastern Anatolian Adana province many centuries ago.

It is believed they arrived there ‘… with the first wave of wandering shepherd folk, content to seek new pastures, and before the second wave of the conquerors… ‘, the Seljuk invasion and the 1071 Battle of Manzikert.

Eventually, owing to the Ottoman demographic policies aimed at increasing the Muslim population in the predominantly Greek Orthodox Christian part of Asia Minor, the tribe was relocated to Balekesir province on the Aegean coast.

There are four principal colours in most Yağcıbedir rugs, and dyes are exclusively organic: dark blue, which forms the ground colour of most Yağcıbedir rugs, red, dark red and white. Rugs with white background colour are mainly produced in Eğridere and Alakır villages.