Home > Carpet Making > Oriental Rugs Glossary

Canakkale: West Anatolian city known for its squarish red rugs.

Carding: A process in the preparation of raw wool (or other fibers) for spinning accomplished by drawing it repeatedly across rows of small metal teeth.

Cartoon: Map of design and colors necessary to weave a rug.

Cartouche: A design that surrounds a woven signature, date or inscription in a rug.

Carved pile: A process of carving around a design or symbol to enhance the look of the rug. Commonly done in some Chinese and Tibet rugs.

Caucasus: An area of southern Russia which is bordered by the Black Sea on the West and the Caspian Sea on the east. The Caucasus mountains border the region from the northwest diagonally to the southeast. Caucasian rugs usually have geometric designs and bright lively colors. Rugs are most frequently doubled wefted and usually woven on either a full wool foundation or on wool warps with cotton wefts. Warps are undyed. Knot count ranges from 60 per square inch for Kazaks up to about 120 for Kuba rugs.

Chain Stitch: A crochet stitch used in rug construction that consists of successive loops to lock the final weft in place at the end of a rug.

Chahal Shotur: A center of Bakhtiari rugs from western Iran with a compartmented garden design.

Chakesh: afghan turkoman rug type.

Charschango: North Afghan gul (rose) type.

Chemical Dyes: Modern synthetic dyes used in rugs woven after 1935.

Chemical Wash: The application of some chemicals such as lime, chlorine or wood ash to a rug in order to soften the colors, the wool and increase the sheen of the pile.

Chobash: Blue/red turkoman carpets.

Chodor: Turkoman tribe.

Chrome Dyed: A group of modern synthetic dyes that are used with a mordant of potassium dichromate. These dyes are fast and non-fugitive.

Cloth Backed Rug: Normally on the back of an Indian or Chinese tufted rug.

Color run : Bleeding of dyes into the surrounding areas. Dyed yarn which has not been washed properly after the dyeing process may bleed or run into the surrounding areas. Bleeding can also occur to chemical dyes which are not stable or color fast. Most common color affected is the red pigment. There are some chemical treatments which can remove this bleeding.

Chuval (jallar): large woven storage bag

Cloud Band: A design usually associated with Chinese rugs but which is used in a variety of rugs as floral pattern. Resembles the Greek letter omega or wispy clouds.

Chi-chi: A certain design of Caucasian Kuba rugs consisting of a border decorated with diagonal bars alternating with large geometric rosettes. Most Chichi rugs have an average area of 25 square feet and their foundation is either completely wool or wool warps with cotton wefts.

Cochineal: Deep red dye obtained from the dried bodies of a type of insect.

Colorfast: If a rug has colorfast dyes, the colors are steadfast and will not run when washed.

Combing: Process for preparing wool's in the same direction, before they are spun.

Chemche: (Turkmen) literal translation, spoon, refers to a secondary gol used in Turkmen pile weavings.