Soumak rugs

How a soumak is woven

A soumak has no knots and no pile. The weaver wraps a colored weft yarn forward over several warps and back under fewer of them, then repeats across the row. The wrapped yarn builds the pattern, and plain wefts woven between the rows hold the rug together.

The wrapping gives the front a fine, slanted texture that looks a little like braiding or a herringbone. The weaver works from the back, so the back of a soumak is usually covered with loose yarn ends.

Soumak and kilim

Both are flatweaves, but they are made differently. In a kilim, the colored wefts pass over and under the warps, and where two colors meet in a straight vertical line the weave often leaves a small slit. A soumak wraps its wefts, so it has no slits.

A soumak is usually thicker and heavier than a kilim of the same size. A kilim looks almost the same on both sides, while a soumak has a clear front and back.

Where the name and the rugs come from

The name is often linked to Shemakha, a town in present-day Azerbaijan, though the link is not certain. The best-known antique soumaks were woven in the eastern Caucasus in the 19th century, many with large, hooked medallions on a red or navy field.

Weavers in northwest Iran, including the Shahsavan, also used the technique for rugs, bags and animal trappings. Today soumaks are woven in many countries, often in modern colors.

Caring for a soumak

Vacuum the front with suction only, or with the brush turned off, and never vacuum the loose ends on the back. Use a rug pad so the rug stays flat and does not slide.

A soumak cannot be reversed to spread wear, so rotate it end to end every six months to a year instead. Spills should be blotted, not rubbed, because rubbing can raise and fuzz the wrapped yarn.

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