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Spring Afghan Shipment Now Arrived

Friday, 11 May 2018 | Kim

Exciting News - Our Afghan Shipment of Kilims, Rugs & Carpets has safely arrived in Brighton - over 100 New Rugs!

We have been busy photographing every piece and now have finished uploading them to our website, if you would like any further info do get in touch. Many of you have been waiting for this new stock so we hope you find something perfect for your space!

All items are in the Latest Arrivals Category and also in their relevant category.

Check out our Latest Arrivals Section Here

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YASHAR BISH - Hidden Gems - May 2018

Sunday, 6 May 2018 | Kim

Here at Yashar Bish we are choosing something special each month to share with you, highlighting things you may not have discovered amongst our collection - for the month of May we have picked our interesting Turkish Yastik Rugs

The Turkish term “Yastik” means cushion or pillow and is also used to describe small Turkish wool rugs that have a hand knotted front and a flat weave Kilim on the reverse. These small oriental weavings are found across Central and Eastern Turkey including regions such as Konya, Malatya and Sivas.

In the nomadic way of life, Yastiks were used as storage bags for clothing, dried grasses or as cushions by Yörük (nomadic) people and you can often find remnants of straw on the inside, despite them being cleaned and washed! In village houses they would be used on a raised platform as cushions to support the back. These hand knotted pile Yastiks were woven by women in the form of miniature carpets and were produced on narrow looms.

The designs used in these small rugs would be based on the interpretation of the weaver and would include folkloric, superstitious and religious motifs that would have been passed down through the generations. Over the years designs and motifs would alter and would be re-invented due to changes within a tribe or group of people such as members of different tribes mixing and co-existing. Often each tribe or village would have their own unique design that would mostly be used by that group or tribe, hence we can still often recognise where individual pieces originate from.

Over time weavers started using machine made fabric on the reverse instead of flat woven Kilim which meant it was cheaper to produce these items, this explains why there are many of these Yastiks that do not have a reverse (the machine made fabrics having been removed) thus leaving very beautiful, utilitarian small sized hand knotted rugs for the floor.

We have been selling these Yastiks for many years. The “backed” pieces make excellent large floor cushions or thick little rugs for the floor. The single sided pieces are excellent, functional small Turkish rugs that can slot into small spaces and liven up or soften a bare floor. Unfortunately Yastiks are not widely made anymore and it is becoming increasingly hard to source them.

Above is an example of an antique yastik composed of amulet motifs and interlocking “S’ border design which can be found in central Anatolian Carpets – this is a museum piece and not for sale

Above is an antique yastik with medallions composed of concentric, delicately hooked diamonds from southeast Anatolia – this is a museum piece and not for sale

Examples of our Turkish Yastiks (with backs) can be found in our Turkish and Afghan Floor Cushion Section, examples of the single sided Turkish Yastiks can be found in our Small Pile Rugs Section.

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YASHAR BISH - Hidden Gems - April 2018

Sunday, 1 April 2018 | Kim

Here at Yashar Bish we are choosing something special each month to share with you, highlighting things you may not have discovered amongst our collection - for the month of April we have picked our gorgeous Uzbek Porcelain Bowls and Teapots

We love hunting out these vintage bowls and teapots when we are away on our buying trips in Turkey, we never know quite what treasures we may find until we start to rummage!

We have to admit that we do have rather a large collection of these in our own home, in all four sizes and they get used daily for salads, nuts, soups and noodles, I even steam poached eggs in the small ones! Not only are they functional but they also look absolutely gorgeous on the shelf or dresser.

These bowls and teapots were made in the 1970’s during the times of the Soviet Union - sometimes they were produced as commemorative pieces and are often decorated with Ikat textile designs

The Vintage Uzbek Teapots are very individual and are big enough for a cup of tea for two. Whatever your preferred tea, these teapots are a joy to use and perfect for a single or double serving - as the spouts are well defined they pour well with no dribbles!

We have an interesting old book in the shop titled “Tattooed Mountain Women & Spoon Boxes of Daghestan” in which we found this lovely old image of an old carved fireplace with the mantelpiece housing an interesting collection of the old Soviet bowls

For any further info about our bowls or teapots go to our online Ceramic Category or send us an email here

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Kilim Cushions Galore!

Monday, 26 March 2018 | Kim

Just a little update to let you know have now uploaded over 70 Kilim Cushions in all shapes and sizes into our LATEST ARRIVALS section - we know many of you were waiting for these to become available so we thought we would drop a line to let you know.

All these cushions can also be found in the Kilim Cushion section of the website

Please follow us on Instagram for all that's happening in between these updates!

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New Suzani Cushions & Bags Online

Monday, 5 February 2018 | Kim

We have started to put some new items on our website, see the Latest Arrivals Section for the gorgeous Suzani Cushions and Ikat Bags and Cushions we have for sale.