Behind the Scenes
The Beginnings of a Woven Treasure.
The following photographs were taken in Kutahya, Turkey.

A young woman in Kutahya, Turkey "Running" the foundation of a rug. This process is called Running because of the large amount of patience & walking that this process requires. The tension of the foundation must be kept constant & evenly distributed throughout the process to insure the making of a high-quality rug. A foundation that has not received such meticulous attention will most likely produce a rug of inferior quality.

	Once the foundation of a rug has been properly run, the final stage before weaving begins. This is called Stretching the Loom. Shown here, the Kutahya woman begins the process as a young child curiously looks on.

Wool dying is an ancient art. The beautiful colors that are seen here were prepared with an age-old recipe by Woven Treasures' Master-Dyer, Ramazan in Kutahya, Turkey.

Ramazan's fascinating career as a Master-Dyer has him creating original wool dye colors as well as the incredible task of recreating colors to be used in rug restorations, repairs and reproductions. In this photograph, Ramazan studies a Serapi Fragment from the 1880s that Parviz has brought to him for reproduction. Ramazan takes careful note of the pile, weave & colors before deciding if he will be able to accomplish this task.

Weights and scales. In this photograph, ingredients for wool dying are carefully measured in accordance to an ancient recipe.

	Ramazan and an Assistant work to complete the recipe before preparing the dye bath.

Many different natural ingredients are used to create the beautiful colors that we see in expertly dyed Oriental rugs. Madder Root is pictured here.

	While Parviz is on business in Kutahya, Ramazan shows him some of the steps that it requires to create superior quality dyes. The herb that Parviz is holding in this photograph is a common ingredient in wool dying.

Here Ramazan teaches Parviz about the dye process. This wool will be submerged in the dye bath that Ramazan has created and left to absorb the color. It will be attended to carefully to assure that the wool dyes evenly. Ramazan explains to Parviz that most wool is dyed during the summer months. Due to the heat, the dye takes to the wool better during this time. If they have not dyed enough of one color of wool to last through the winter, they will more often than not, choose to substitute a different color of wool, rather than attempt to dye during the off-season. Because of this unyielding attention to quality, summer is an extremely busy time for a Master-Dyer!