Ghiordes: This Turkish city,
fifty miles north of Smyrna, is the home of the
Gordian knot cut by Alexander the Great, and is
famous in modern times as the home of the Ghiordes knot,
so extensively used in rug making countries. The Ghiordes
rugs are among the finest of the Turkish rugs, and
may be differentiated from the Kulah rugs, which they
resemble, because the borders are few and wide,
instead of narrow and numerous, as with the Kulahs. A
majority of them are prayer rugs, and the coloring is
light blue, yellow, red and green, with white and
ivory quite commonly used.
They
are always tied with the Ghiordes knot, have usually
a woolen warp and a cotton weft, although cotton or
silk is sometimes used in the former and wool or
linen occasionally in the latter. The Ghiordes has
the shortest pile of any of the Turkish weavings, and
it is rather lustreless. The antiques are very high
priced while the moderns are sold at reasonable
valuations. They are made in medium sizes.
Oriental rugs in the home: a monograph by
Nahigian brothers Printed by S.D. Childs &
company, 1913
