| Jajims are typically about 5 feet square.
They are warp-faced, and each is made in a long strip that is
then cut into several equal portions that are sewn
together. Most often we find from four to seven panels
combined. We occasionally come across exceptional old
examples having just two or three panels, and we can be glad
that this much has survived of these beautiful pieces. The
weavings depend for their effect on a sensitive selection of
color for the warp stripes, and the clever repetition and
combination of simple motifs.
Weavings with warp or weft-faced plain stripes are
sometimes very beautiful, but in the narrowest technical sense they
are not jajim;
they did not require the same level of weaving skill or
intensive weaving time. The word jajim applies most
properly to warp-patterned weavings, while the somewhat similar
word, cicim, properly describes a brocaded
weaving--whether done in separate panels or a single
width. Designing within these two structures is very
different. |
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Jajims were multi-purpose articles. Often
they were quilted, and used as covers. In the winter such a
piece could be placed over a family's korsi, a
small charcoal brazier, and the family sat around it with their legs
covered. Other times a jajim could be spread on the ground as a cover or
used as a blanket. Especially sturdy examples served as horse
covers. Usually when we find old jajims, any quilted layers
underneath have been removed, but we may find remnants of quilting
threads on the pieces. For us, jajims make lovely bed
covers, couch throws, or table covers. The most beloved
textile in my personal collection is a jajim that I've used as a
bed cover for many years; it merely lies on top of a simple,
coarse cotton cover that extends down the bed sides. It's
wonderful with a pile of kilim pillows.
Warp-substitution jajims have been made throughout Persia,
Anatolia, the Caucasus and some of the Turkmen areas. For several years no one
had reliable information about where specific pieces were made,
and the tendency was to automatically label them Shahsevan and
assume that they came from northwest Persia or Azerbaijan.
We now know that many of these were actually Kurdish, and
originated in Khorasan. Other examples come from
Western Iran. |
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The Warp-Substitution Technique |
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A jajim's layout of plain and patterned
vertical stripes is determined when the weaver warps her
loom. In the pattern sections she strings the loom with
extra warps: pairs of yarns in contrasting colors. Sometimes
in plain-weave stripes she alternates colors individually, so that
tiny crosswise bands or dots appear when the piece is
woven. |
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To create a warp-substitution design, the weaver
chooses either a dark or a light yarn from each warp pair to
incorporate in the fabric. She drops the unwanted yarns to
the back of the fabric, where they float loosely. After
selecting, or "picking" the yarns individually for a
complete horizontal row, she puts a weft through the new shed she
has just formed. After putting a weft through the opposite shed,
she picks the next pattern row. In
Middle Eastern and Central Asian work, the width of patterned
stripes is usually limited by the number of warp yarns a weaver
can grasp in one hand, transfer individually to the other as she
picks the pattern, and then transfer to a temporary shed
stick. |
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The process of picking warp-substitution designs is
much the same as that used for double-weave fabrics; the warps
on the bottom layer are simply left unwoven for a warp-substitution
jajim, while they are woven as a separate fabric layer to produce a
double weave.
Designs are usually limited to two colors in any warp position. The design options are severely limited, since these
two colors must be incorporated in the design in nearly equal
proportions to maintain proper warp tension. Warps used in the
design are forced into a sinuous path by the interlacing wefts,
getting tighter and tighter as the weaving progresses. Since
warps
not used in the design are left loose on the back they can soon begin to
sag. The weaver must then adjust her design to incorporate
them. |
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Because of the restrictions, weavers
using this technique have been especially creative. Designs
devised within this ancient structure have often been copied in other textile media, such as
knotted pile--especially for borders. For more discussion of this, see my manual, Woven
Structures, Chapter 10, and also the article on this
website, Tracking the Archetype.
The extremely close relationship between structure and design
make this a fascinating fabric construction for both weavers and
serious students of tribal textiles. |
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Return to: |
Jajims
and Covers |
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Tribal
Textiles |
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