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The Play of Varicolored filamentscollection of the Pirot Kilims in the Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade |
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The Pirot kilim-making represents the most perfect weaving creativity in
the territory of Serbia. Its development was influenced by a series of
complex socio-historical, economic, religious, and other factors. The Pirot kilims were made of the pile, thinly spun wool in a technique of “klecanje” on a vertical loom. They are distinguished by rich and diverse geometric ornaments incorporated in the central area and the system of bordures. |
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During the Turkish period (by 1877), kilims were used mainly by the Turkish army and civilian population, and, to a lesser extent, by the elite of the Serbian citizenry and members of other nationalities. In liberated Serbia, kilims had multiple functions in urban interior decoration. In the first decades after the liberation (after 1877), the Pirot kilims became a national visual symbol and inevitable décor in public political, sports and other events. The Pirot textiles decorated residences of the royal family and archpriests, as well as important state institutions. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The catalogue and the exhibition present selected items from the collection of the Pirot kilims in the Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade. The collection consists of 165 kilims of various functional, visual and technical characteristics, originated in Pirot between 1792 and 1932. The most important parts of the collection are the two items of infinite pattern made in 1792, and 24 “batals” – big-size kilims of the complex ornamental composition and exquisite visual and technical features. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The collection items are viewed from the point of their function and
certain visual and technical features, within the three historical
periods: I – between 1892 and 1877; II – between 1877 and 1907; and III
– between 1906 and 1932. The work follows up on changes of these
elements that resulted from various historical, political, economic,
social and other factors. Development of the bordure system can be seen in the kilims made in the period prior to liberation in 1877. The oldest group of items includes eight kilims with an infinite pattern, out of which the two oldest ones date back to 1792. Kilims with a less complicated bordure system stand out, as well as those with a developed “cenar” (outer edge), kilims with a “ploca” (tablet), and kilims with “ploca” and inner “cenar”. The most complex bordures are represented in “batals” with two or more inner “cenars”. |
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This period is dominated by kilims with the pattern of a tree of life which stands independently in the field, representing a part of a complex composition, or it is fitted in several vertical poles. The period also includes the kilims with the image of niches where some of those had a ritual-religious role. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The collection includes the largest number of items made between 1877
and 1907. The system of bordures in those items is fully developed. The kilims of this period have a broad specter of dominant patterns in the field. |
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The kilims with niches lost their ritual function while the motif acquired a decorative character. In addition to various designs of the tree-of-life motif, kilims with a complex composition – with a medallion in the central field – were introduced. A significant number of kilims with diverse variations of the image of “venci na kubeta” (domes on pillars) can be also found in the Museum. The oldest kilim with this motif was made in 1877. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The most numerous are kilims with the motif of “smirjanska pattern” with
the red or white color in the warp. Kilims with naturalistic images of
flower wreaths, made in the late 19th century, were influenced by
western styles – Bidermeier and rococo. Kilims with the “Rasic pattern”
were introduced at the end of the century. Most kilims made in the late
19th century had inscriptions – initials, dedications…. The Museum also holds an insignificant number of items made between 1907 and 1932 that are somewhat removed from the authentic style of the Pirot kilim-making. |
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