Silken and gold-woven tufted products from the ancient time created the glory of the famous «Oriental carpet». As a rule they were made for the royal dynasties and the high-level elite. They also were portrayed for the foreign government missions and distinguished nobles as a precious gift, because they cost a fabulously expensive.
Silken carpets are characterized by the warm flickering of colors and a distinctive game of the light in semitones, which enriches coloring products very much. Commonly, the height of the pile is less than 2 mm, and the carpets are very soft and extremely pleasant to touch. For all its apparent fragility, silken carpets are very durable and long lasting. Their colors do not fade with time, threads are not wiped off. Therefore, these products do not get old, but rather with the age they only become more honorable, acquiring gloss and a certain charm.
Unfortunately, the technology of production of these, indeed, unique products was almost completely lost by the middle of the XIX century. And just to the end of 90-ies years of the last century, through a really hard work, the once forgotten craft was started to recover in Margilan, Khiva and Samarkand cities.
In case you are going to visit Samarkand city, you should definitely visit the carpet factory «Hudjum”, where this famous silken “miracle” is being manufactured by hand during many centuries. »
These days, this company employs just over 400 people that are mostly very young girls. They make up to 40 rugs each month. Spinning of the carpet is an extremely long and very laborious work. Thus, it can take a time from 6 months to one year. Girls work alone or in pairs for the machine. And if one of them gets sick, work is completely stopped, because there is no one to replace her. The reason is, the handwriting is different. And they say, that in order for the carpet came out beautiful and high quality, girls should not quarrel in the process. By judging from the specimens exposed for sale, the nerves’ condition in the team is great.
The entire process of creating a carpet from the unwinding of cocoons and silk dyeing, until trimming pile of the finished product, takes place in the walls of the factory. Everything is performed according to the ancient technologies and exclusively manually. Even to dye the carpets they do not take the modern synthetic paint. Having dug into grandmother’s recipes, they found out natural ingredients. And here are dried in the yard skeins of silk, painted with extracts of oak, walnut, pomegranate, impark. By the way, the majority of plants necessary to create dyes, such as madder, which creates all the shades of red scale, is grown here on the territory of production.
Thanks to vegetable dyes, contrasting tones of the patterns blurred a little. Eventually that forms a silver or gold overflow, which is extremely appreciated by connoisseurs of the carpets.
National compositions and traditional Uzbek ornaments are typically used for figure of the silk carpets. However, in the factory of «Hudjum» you are capable to order a rug according to your own sketch.
In general, the company operates exceptionally under the orders, although it is not considered to be a cheap the order a silk carpet. The final cost of the product consists of many conditions: the complexity of the figure, the density of the weave, the size of the product and speed of execution of the given work. That is why, a small rug with the size of a towel, with a portrait of the client executed on it and the density of weaving 600 knots per square centimeter ( a highest quality ), may cost several tens of dollars. Although in case you still do not feel like a millionaire, you are able to choose an existing specimen which is simpler. Good thing is the girls always have a ready product. Buying a silk carpet at first hand, it is always a great success and in addition, it is a nice way for investing your money.