Striped Syrian Kilim

This striped Syrian kilim was made in the early 20th century out of cotton and metallic thread.

This type of zok tapestry weave is named after a famous Aleppo weaver who specialized in this sort of cotton and metallic construction. Syria was well known for zok weaving, and had an especially strong export market to Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey between the two World Wars. Zok textiles are very well suited for use as interior upholstery, and were sometimes used to make abas (open robes) as well.

The decoration on this striped Syrian kilim is a bird, cloud, and arrow design. We have another similar example in the collection where two similarly patterned sections of zok are joined together oppositely, creating a slightly different kilim.