Felt craft is a very ancient art. For centuries, Caucasian peoples have been famous for their exquisite felted fabrics, which were used to cover the seats of wagons, to spread under a horse saddle, to make burkas and shoes. Of special popularity were patterned carpets to be used to winterize and decorate homes. The flair of a felt carpet depended on the place of its manufacture; the ornaments on the felts carried symbolic information and mirrored the ethical and aesthetic knowledge of highlanders. These could be drawings inspired by the surrounding nature, elements of flora and fauna.
The tradition of producing Ala-kiyiz felt carpets is related to the material and spiritual culture of Karachai and Balkar peoples. These carpets were used to decorate and winterize homes and were an integral part of folk rituals, and served as a dowry for a bride. Stacked on the shelves of a dwelling, they demonstrated not only the wealth of the family, but also the diligence of women.
An important place in the Chechen culture belonged to the traditional Chechen felt carpet, an istang. The word itself is derived from two stems: of numeral "iss" (nine) and noun "tkhonka" (amount of wool shorn from one ram). Hence, the word "istang" means "nine overall clippings". Depending on their purpose, carpets had different sizes, colors, patterns, but the standard istang was made of white wool taken from exactly nine rams or sheep. Istangs were a kind of talismans in every house. People hung them on the walls, spread on the floor; they slept on them and used them to take shelter from the cold.
The postage stamps feature fragments of patterns from national felt carpet istang of the Chechen Republic from the K. Isayev Museum of Local Lore and national felt curtain dzhyygych kiyiz of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic by A. and M. Uzdenovs.
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Printing method |
Format of the envelope |
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114 × 162 mm |